Evil Shadows
by Nova trinity
Summary: Naruto inherites a home that is being haunted. Gaara is a Psychic that deals in the paranormal. YAOI! If you do not like Yaoi or boyxboy, please do not read. A/U, Character Death. Rated M for a reason.
1. A New Start

**Disclaimer: **_**I do not own Naruto or anything other than this plot. If I owned Naruto, a lot of the people who died would be alive, and a few (cough, HINATA, cough) would have died in place of a certain Uchiha…**_

_Attention_: _In this story, it is A/U, Horror/Supernatural, AND YAOI, Also a major point to make, some character deaths. Some that troubled me in having to write, others that I had no problem with killing them off, I know, I know, how could I be so cruel? Masashi-sensei did it to Itachi and Jiraiya. Other than that, I will have lots of gore in some spots, a little smut in others, at the start of each chapter I will warn you. So I hope you enjoy a look into my twisted imaginings…_

**"_In this world,  
__There is real evil,  
__In the darkest shadows,  
__In the most ordinary place."_**

**"_Between the world we see,  
__And the things we fear,  
__There are doors,  
__When they are opened,  
__Nightmares become reality."_**

**_Credit to A Haunting, on Discovery Chanel_**

**Prologue:**_ Le Bord du Fleuve_

Lightning illuminated the moonless night sky, the storm was just beginning outside, within the large log and stone home however the storm had already reached the crescendo, it was now time for the after affects from it. The only sounds within were at the top of the stairs, and from within the basement. Standing sentry at the foot of the stairs was a portrait of a loving family, the husband standing behind his beautiful wife who was seated on a chair, three girls who looked identical, seated on the floor looking out on the entry to the house.

Absently the once elegant lady wiped the sweat from her brow. She had been scrubbing the oak floor for over an hour, when a stray lock of platinum blond hair fell into her eyes, that's when the tears freely flowed from emerald eyes that had been sparkling just this morning. Her slender shoulders shook from the pent up emotions that had burst, her hands shaking, she clawed at the floor, causing splinters to go into her softened manicured nails.

When a hand touched her shoulder, comfortingly, she jumped and turned. The man who before tonight had been a loving father and her husband, stood there. Dirt was smudged on his name brand attire, a bead of sweat creased his brow, and in his other hand he was gripping a shovel as if his life depended on it, which he slowly loosened his grip and let it drop at the top of the stairs to fall noisily in the now deathly still house.

"Is it ready?" Her voice sounded strained, as if she were in a tunnel listening to someone at the opposite end.

He closed his warm brown eyes and only nodded his head at her question, unable or unwilling to give the deed truth. As if him not saying anything would make everything better. Getting down on his knees he gently took her hands in his, they were now blotchy and red from the lye soap that she had used on the floors.

"I can't…" Her voice came in sobs, her tears streaming from her face to land on his now sweaty shirt. "I don't think I can do more…"

"Hush." His rich baritone soothed her like no God ever could. "Let me help."

Her gaze met his and she felt the strength he was forcing himself to have, he knew that if she were not here, he would pick up the gun that was laying on the floor and use it on himself.

With his help, they cleaned up the floor, a pained moan parted her lips though when she looked over at the wall by the first bedroom at the top of the wide stairs, with shaking fingers, her hand, only a mothers hand, reached out and touched the now dry blood feeling the ache from deep within her soul.

**Chapter One:** _A New Start._

"What do you mean he died?" Naruto asked the Dean to his college. "I talked to him just last night on the phone."

"Well," the elderly man pushed his wire rim glasses up his nose with one long boney finger, reminding Naruto of someone that was contemplating on ways to torture a person, "He was leaving a bar and had a little too much to drink. The accident was caused due to the fog in the area though I do believe."

"Hmm…" Naruto mulled over the man's words and stood up, "Then I guess I will leave now."

The Dean stayed seated behind his maple desk, Naruto glared at him and suppressed the childish urge to snub his nose up at the overly large portrait of the Pope that hung behind the desk. On his way out though, he did deliberately bump the end table sending the priceless Ming vase crashing to the floor. He vowed he would never return to this place. It was too damn stuffy.

Once he slammed the large door, Naruto sighed at his best friend since kindergarten, "I know you are going to think it's troublesome," they were heading out towards the parking lot where Shikamaru's old truck was parked. "Can you take me to the airport? Jiraiya died last night or early this morning, I gotta go home." The news hadn't sunk in yet. It felt as if the old man would yell at him if he went home now, leaving the college he had bribed, for Naruto to get into.

Shikamaru paused in his steps, "What are you talking about?"

"That is what I asked the old geezer when he told me too." Naruto put his index finger on his chin imitating someone deep in thought, "He just told me some mumbo jumbo shit about Jiraiya drinking at a bar. Implying that he was a drunk." Naruto snorted in distaste, "So ya know what I did for him dissin' the old guy?"

"What?" Shikamaru unlocked the truck, as he got in he looked over at Naruto and saw a single tear slide down from those sapphire orbs.

"I bumped that table that he has in the office, you know the one by that shitty green chair? That so called priceless vase on it fell and hopefully crashed into a million and one pieces."

Shikamaru laughed softly, starting the truck as Naruto got in, he asked, "You want me to go too?"

Naruto looked over at his best friend, they had been best friends since forever, and even when Shikamaru had found out that Naruto had an imaginary friend named Kyūbi, he never once ridiculed him. Relief flooded through Naruto at the prospect of having a friend in the midst of all the chaos that would soon arise. "If you want, I know it would be nice if you went along."

Shikamaru nodded his head, "Lets not say anything to my mom though, it would be too troublesome to have her asking all her stupid questions about school."

Chuckling slightly, Naruto asked, "How long have we been considered freshmen?"

"Only three years," Shikamaru grinned, "It's too troublesome to change classes every year."

"Yeah," Naruto snickered, "especially when you are smarter than the professors." He put his thumb to his nose and added, "If only I could say the same thing for me."

At the dorm, they packed a few things in a duffle bag, and left for the airport. The flight was uneventful, Shikamaru fell asleep halfway to Seattle. When they landed, it was rainy and overcast. "Great weather to be home in." Shikamaru commented in the cab that took them to the house that Naruto had grown up in.

Great day for a funeral, Naruto thought as he watched the familiar landmarks pass by, in the three years he had been away from here nothing much had changed. A few new businesses, and a few old ones that shut down. As if saying yes the economy is good, four new businesses were added, what they never said was how many had shut down.

Naruto was in a daze for most of the proceeding days, even when he viewed the body of his famous novelist Grandfather, he seemed emotionless. When he found out that he would not be able to give the eulogy that he had prepared, Shikamaru thought for sure that he would be upset, yet all Naruto did was nod his blond head with pursed lips.

On the day that Jiraiya was laid to rest, it was drizzling rain, not the full rain where it was predictable on the steady pace, yet that damn rain that was like a fine mist. The umbrellas that everyone used seemed useless, the white coffin that held the world renown novelist got wet, and that is when Naruto's world seemed to collapse.

Tears flowed down from his eyes, unseeingly as his gaze was transfixed on the old coot's new and final bed that would be covered with soil as it sank in the ground, and all the twenty one year old could think of was the coffin was getting wet, and when the soil was covering it, it would get muddy and dirty. He didn't want his Grandpa, the man who raised him after his own parent's untimely death's, to be in a dirty bed for eternity.

Shikamaru placed his arm on Naruto's shoulder and pulled him close, he thought nothing of comforting his best friend that was being snubbed by all the rich and elite of Seattle society. Damn, he thought, it's Naruto's grandfather that they were here to burry, you would think that they would be more sympathetic. He should have known though, all of Naruto's life seemed to be like that.

Everyone started to walk away, Naruto and Shikamaru stayed seated and watched the coffin slowly go down into the ground. Once it had stopped, Naruto walked over to the empty hole and looked down on the shiny white box, on top were the lily's that Jiraiya had favored, along with a single red rose. Both of which Naruto had bought so that he could have them with him. He was glad that the people at the funeral home had listened to what he wanted.

It was evening by the time Naruto and Shikamaru got back to the house. They ate in comfortable silence, and then watched the home movies Jiraiya had made through the years. Neither one talking as they paid homage to the man that only they fully understood. It was sunrise by the time they tiredly went up to bed.

Most of that day was spent sleeping or lounging indoors due to the weather. Naruto was slowly bouncing back. What helped him the most was this old stuffed fox that he had gotten as a kid, he didn't know what it was yet it always made him smile and think about Pompeii. In school he had learned that in Pompeii many, many, many years ago, a massive volcano had erupted, destroying the beautiful Italian city. One day he would go there, he was fascinated with it, yet he hated history with a passion. One picture in particular stuck with him, it was of some people that had been plastered or whatever and it was of two Roman's pointing at each other, as if they had been saying everything was the others fault. If only Mount Vesuvius had never blown up…

Nearly a week had passed when Naruto and Shikamaru were "summoned" to Jiraiya's lawyer's office. Kakashi had been the lawyer who had "handled" the transaction of making sure that Naruto had gotten into the best Liberal Art school in Southern California. One thing he and Shikamaru were grateful for was that not once since they flew in from Oakland, had they gone to Mass. As one of the lessons he had learned from Mass was that miracles did indeed happen in the worse of times.

Kakashi's office still looked the same as it had three years ago, littered with clutter.

Iruka, Kakashi's legal aide, was typing some documents on the ancient computer that probably didn't even have Windows. It was when Naruto heard a grinding noise that it startled him, he looked over and noticed the printer moaning in protest as it tried to print two words a minute.

"Sorry to interrupt you," Naruto couldn't help the chuckle from escaping his mouth, "I think you need to upgrade the office equipment."

Iruka rolled his eyes and said, "I don't think that will happen this decade."

"No it wont." Kakashi said from the open office door, "Not as long as this stuff works."

"Have you ever heard of mercy killing?" Naruto mumbled.

"Watch your mouth." Was the reply from inside the other room.

"Well if you are not busy," Naruto sighed, "I did think you wanted to see me."

"What time is your appointment for?" Kakashi called out.

"One thirty." Naruto was tempted to go on in the office.

"Is it one thirty yet?"

Glancing at the clock, Naruto groaned. It was barely one twenty five. "Damn…"

Shikamaru sighed, he was getting settled in to nap while Naruto had his meeting. "Wake me up when it's over."

Nodding, Naruto glanced around at the different framed pictures that littered the walls. Kakashi knew a lot of famous people. Unless he just superimposed his picture onto them, Naruto wouldn't put it past him. To have high tech computers at home and the crappy ones here, so he could take the picture of someone famous home and Photoshop it till it showed a likeable impression of him next to said famous person.

The office kinda smelled too, like old musty papers, and strong coffee, with a hint of mildew.

Iruka was still waiting for the pages to print on the printer when Kakashi finally said, "Come on in Naruto." Standing up in relief, Naruto went into the office. It was even worse in here, he thought to himself. "Close the door please."

Closing the door behind him, Naruto gingerly sat down on the heavily stained chair. It was the lesser of two evils, the other chair had something on it that looked like it needed watering, and a ton of papers in stacks. The desk alone was like a forest of evil, one trip into and something just might bite your head off, chew it and spit it out, to merge with the clutter.

The white haired young man, God only knew why he liked to dye his hair, (long story and Naruto was not thinking of this) made a show of his hands before he motioned to the file on the top of the desk, "As you know, I inherited this law firm from my late father five years ago."

Snorting at the term law firm, Naruto nodded, indicating that the man continue his spiel.

"Well, your Grandfather never updated his will prior to your fathers death some seventeen years ago. As it stands, your father gets everything. Alas your father doesn't need it where he is, so it all goes to you."

Kakashi started to list all the different assets, the house in Seattle, different bank accounts, different savings accounts, rights to the many novels that he had published, and a property in the mountains.

The last part shocked him. Never once had his Grandpa mentioned anything about property elsewhere. Ah well, Naruto tried to absorb all the details, it was odd, he was under no circumstances allowed to ever sell it, in fact it had been in the family for generations. It piqued his curiosity.

It took another hour before Naruto was leaving the office, having signed the papers to make Kakashi his lawyer now, along with the person to handle all of his finances. Getting the keys to the property, along with an address in some small town, Pine Valley, it sounded like a air freshener, he was finally allowed to leave the inner office for the outer one. Iruka was now seated at his desk stapling papers together, Shikamaru had fallen asleep long ago, his long legs stretched out in front of him.

"Oi, get up." Naruto kicked at the long leg that was in front of him.

Shikamaru opened his eyes and raised one dark eyebrow lazily, "About time." Standing up, he stretched his arms above his head. His finger tips grazing the low ceiling.

Naruto knew that his friend was curious about what was discussed in the office, he didn't ask any questions though, which Naruto was extremely grateful for. Outside in the fresh air, Shikamaru started to grumble about the weather. Naruto didn't comment on anything till they got back to the house. He had told Kakashi to sell it along with everything left in it after the weekend. So he had four days to go through everything and keep all the mementos that he wanted. He would also let Shikamaru keep anything that he might want.

"Shikamaru," Naruto began as they were sitting down to eat the final meal in the house before leaving back for California the following day. "What should I do about the property that I got from Jiraiya?"

"What do you mean?" He was munching on the taco that they had gotten from Taco Bell.

"I think I want to see it." Naruto wadded up his wrapper and tossed it at the trash can. "It's in the mountains though, and school started up again a couple weeks ago."

"Hmm." Shikamaru looked at his best friend and shrugged his shoulders, "If you want to go see it, we can. No big deal."

"Get this though, it has a name."

"What does?"

"The house. It's called Le Bord du Fleuve."

"Sounds Greek to me."

Looking confused, Naruto said, "Kakashi said that it's French. Something about the edge of a river or something."

Shikamaru snorted, "A house that has a name kinda sounds like it's not for us."

Naruto's own face lit up with anticipation, "I do want to see it, why not live in it? I mean it's not suppose to leave the family, that was a stipulation in the will. I wonder why… Hmm, any way, if it is too fancy then we can always go back to California."

Shikamaru nodded his head, "Okay. I will go with you then."

Getting excited, the blond jumped up from the bar stool. "Yosh…Great."

The following day, they drove Jiraiya's serial killer van, it was loaded with all the things from the house that they wanted to keep, back to Oakland. Doing a little sight seeing on the way back. When they got to the airport a week later, they looked everywhere to find Shikamaru's truck. After the third time of driving in circles in the part of the parking lot that Shikamaru vowed he had parked, and not finding it, they went to the office and inquired within, to only find out it had been towed away.

They had to pay an exuberant fee to get Shikamaru's small Toyota truck, which they proceeded to tow on the large van, Naruto paid for it due to feeling like it was his fault. However he couldn't help laughing over it all.

They were able to make good timing by taking turns driving so two days later it was in the late afternoon sun they got there first view of the little mountain town, about two hours south west of Denver. Even though the towns name made Naruto think of air freshener, it was a charming place. Nestled within the mountains as it was and near a river.

The excitement over the first view of the house was tampered when it was dusk as they finally found the dirt road that led the mile to the house. They passed a modest home and then as they rounded a curve the road abruptly ended at the base of a large log and stone home.

In the late day light it looked as if it were a tomb for some forgotten era. Both Naruto and Shikamaru breathlessly stared at the home. For some unknown reason, a chill went through Naruto. Turning the key in the ignition to the off position, he caught his breath. Large pine trees surrounded the home along with a few Aspen.

Once they got out of the van, Naruto could hear the flow of water near by. So it really might be near the waters edge. "Did they hook up the power?"

Naruto looked at his friend, "What do you mean?"

"Did you even tell them to connect the electricity?"

"Hmm," Naruto grinned sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head, "I was planning to call them tomorrow." He convincingly lied.

"We better hurry then and find some candles or a flash light." Shikamaru was not surprised at his forgetfulness.

Jumping up the four steps that led to the large wrap around porch, Naruto pulled out the key to the front door. His hand paused in mid air to unlock the large oak doors that led to the inside, once more a nagging feeling coming over him that was telling him to leave and never return. That some things were left better alone, namely this house. In the past, he had always listened to the nagging instincts that told him to not do something or to do it, this time however he blatantly ignored it, passing it off as nerves.

Once Shikamaru joined him, Naruto unlocked the door, and as he slowly swung it open, he asked, "Shall we?"

"After you, my dear." Shikamaru grinned at Naruto. "After all you are the master of this abode."

Laughing, Naruto said, "I guess I am."

Stepping into the house was like taking a step back in time. They were in the large entry, a grand staircase up ahead of them, to one side was a opening into what Naruto would refer to a living room, and to the opposite side was a set of double doors that were closed leading to a room that was not viewed. Next to the closed doors was a ancient portrait of a family. They surveyed the room as if Naruto and Shikamaru were unwelcome in this place.

Approaching the painting, Naruto shivered visibly, the man and woman seemed to be in their own little world, the three girls though in the painting just creeped Naruto out. Hearing a noise behind him, Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin. It was just Shikamaru who stood slightly behind and to the side of Naruto, his brown gaze upon the same portrait that Naruto had been gazing at.

"In this lighting, that painting just plain creeps me out." His voice conveyed the absolute lack of interest that the dark haired man was feeling.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, "I think I want to get rid of it as soon as possible."

"Come on, we need to look for some candles before it gets too late." Effectively, he had changed the subject.

_A/N: Okay, first off, I am sorry that I have not updated my other stories, This week I swear they will be updated. This one is a story that I had floating in my head for a while now (Well ever sense watching that Haunting show on Discovery channel). Let me know what you think of this please, if no one likes it I will trash... I want honest feedback. B.T.W. in this I do plan on at least 3 character death's._


	2. Family Portrait

_**Disclaimer: I am writing this story purely for my entertainment, all Naruto characters are owned by Masashi Kishimoto, I pay homage to the paranormal and do not intend to offend anyone with my fascination into the dark abyss that is known as the afterlife. I only own this plot, so please keep in mind that if I owned Naruto, I would have it be a Shonen-Ai, also the quotes I am using in this fan fiction are all found on line except the one from chapter one I used it from a show on the Discovery channel which is called A Haunting, if you like this kind of story, I highly recommend you watch it….**_

_Attention:__ This is a story of fan fiction based on Naruto (see disclaimer), in it I will have some elements that might disturb some people, so I advise you now that if you can't handle a slight haunting (more than a slight), along with slight Yaoi themes, then please do not read this. Some aspects will be the same as in the manga, so I warn those that read it, other aspects are not the same, therefore you may think that some of the characters are OoC. Enjoy my morbid musings in my head though, and please let me know what you think of it. No feed back means no one is interested and I will halt posting updates._

* * *

_"And this is the forbidden truth,  
__the unspeakable taboo-that evil is not always repellent but frequently attractive;  
__that it has the power to make of us not simply victims,  
__as nature and accident do, but active accomplices."_

**Haunted: Tales of the Grotesque (Joyce Carol Oates)  
**

**Chapter two**: _Family Portrait_

"Get out now while you can…"

Disoriented, Naruto sat up in bed. At first he was confused as to where exactly he was, then everything came back to him. Laying on the bed next to him, wrapped up in a comforter, was Shikamaru. They had both decided to sleep together last night in the first room they had found at the top of the stairs. As for the voice… he wondered who it had been.

"Shikamaru?" his own voice sounded hollow to his ears.

"Mmmm?" Shikamaru was still in dream land.

"Nothing…" Naruto looked around the room, it was mildly pleasant in daylight. Two large windows looked out on the front of the property. The hard wood floors needed to be scrubbed from years of neglect, the walls needed to have the faded girly wallpaper removed, it looked ragged now and would not suit his needs, overall the size and feel of the room was pleasant and Naruto knew he wanted to have this be his room.

Getting out of bed, he stretched his arms and arched his back. Mentally he made a list of all the things he needed to do today. Call to have the utilities hooked up, go grocery shopping, and try to clean the house. It had taken them two hours last night just to air out this room good enough for them to sleep in. on the far side of the room was a door, last night it was so dim in here that he had not noticed it.

Curiously, he approached it, akin to a nagging feeling that he should leave well enough alone. The phrase let sleeping dogs lie came to mind.

Placing his hand on the doorknob, he hesitated. Nothing had happened, so he slowly turned it. Pulling the door in, he first noticed how stuffy the air was, then he noticed it was only a bathroom. Albeit a old one, nevertheless it could not bite him. He had been a idiot to think anything would be waiting on the other side of the door… Foolish in fact.

Laughing nervously, he stepped in, pulling the door closed behind him. For a old bathroom, it was large. It had a claw foot tub like the other four bathrooms in the house, a ancient toilet that made him think of those ones he had once seen at a old west museum, the kind that had a tank of water on the wall and you had to pull a string then the water would rush down into the bowl. The sink was old too, yet they still made them, those pedestal sinks.

Next to the tub was a make-up counter, covered in dust, once a ornate mirror that hung on the wall behind it so the person that was applying make-up could see themselves, now you could barely see in it.

As he approached the large tub, the temperature in the room seemed to plummet. It had been warm, and now the hairs on his arm were standing on end, as if he were out in the middle of a snow storm. Goose bumps on his skin caused Naruto to chuckle nervously. "It's just your imagination… Nothing to worry about." Oh great, he thought to himself, now I am talking to myself just like the old man did while I was growing up.

Abruptly he turned around and left the room, not running, no, he would never be afraid of a room. He just felt that he had better things to do, yeah, that's it, like take a shower and find the kitchen…

He had been rummaging around in the antique kitchen when he heard his cell phone, he had left it on the counter when he had went into the kitchen. Taking a quick glance, he grinned, it was Sasuke, another of his good friends.

"Hello…" he answered it.

"Where the hell are you at dobe?" Sasuke's voice was nearing a panic. "Sui and I have looked everywhere for you and that lazy friend of yours."

"Oi, don't let Shika hear you call him that." Naruto laughed, "To tell you the truth though, we are now in my new mountain home, if you guys wanna come and help us fix it up, you can."

Sasuke snorted at this, "Sure… how much you willing to pay us?"

"Free room and board."

"Let me talk to Sui about it."

"That's fine with me."

"So where is this?"

"Pine Valley."

"Hmm a air freshener?"

Chuckling, Naruto said, "That was my thoughts also."

"O.K. Dobe, I will talk to Sui about it and get back to you."

"Great, this place needs more than just Shika and me to fix it up in time for winter."

"Sure thing. Sui is back now so I will see what he says and then get back to you."

"Okay…Bye."

After he pushed the end button, Naruto smiled to himself, it would be good to have Sasuke and Suigetsu here to help, even though Sasuke and Shikamaru disliked each other. Not to the point that it became violent, it was just a mild dislike that irritated everyone around. And no one seemed to know how it all began.

* * *

The next day the power was hooked up along with the propane. Hinata and Tenten were moving in, two girls that Naruto had befriended the day before at the small store in town. One thing about Naruto, he could strike up a conversation with just about anyone and within moments have them become best friends. Once he had found out that they needed a place to stay, he had wasted no time in urging them to move in.

Hinata was a shy and quiet girl, she was pretty and had a sweet personality. And whenever she was alone with Naruto, she seemed on the verge of fainting.

Tenten was nice and outgoing, cute in her own way.

Naruto liked them both, and they were thankful about the invite, so Naruto allowed them to pick the rooms they wanted. They picked a couple rooms that had a sharing bath room.

That left Shikamaru with the obvious master bed room, Naruto with the one that he and Shika had shared that first night, and a quaint bed room that would work good for Sasuke and Suigetsu if they did come.

It was about a week later when Sasuke and Suigetsu showed up. That night for dinner, Tenten made pork chops and everyone was sitting around the large dinning room table enjoying the mood when from upstairs it sounded like footsteps running down the hall. No one else was in the house and everyone looked at everyone else.

"Umm," Shikamaru begun, "I am just going to pretend I didn't just hear that."

"Rats." Tenten stated all calmly, "We need to set some traps."

"It's not rats, it is ghosts!" Suigetsu jumped up.

Hinata looked like the canary that was being stalked by the cat. Her eyes wide with fear, her knuckles that were clenching the tablecloth white. All she could do was nod her head to what Suigetsu said.

"Calm down Sui," Sasuke patted his lovers back reassuringly. "I'm sure that its just rats like Tenten said."

Naruto chuckled mirthlessly, unsure what to believe. He glanced over at Shikamaru who was just sitting there unfazed, as if the noises that were still being made upstairs were not being heard.

Deep down he thought it was more than just rats, he didn't want to create more of a panic though so all he did was listen as Suigetsu (whom he had known for two years, since Sasuke and Suigetsu had first started to date one another) and Tenten started to argue about it being more than rats.

"Look," Tenten was saying, "if it were more than rats, then wouldn't more than a little scuttling be heard. Use your brain, it is just rats, and tomorrow I will bring home some traps."

"I tell you rats make less noise than that."

"Not here. We have pack rats."

"What the hell?"

"They are the size of a football," she indicated her hand to the incredulous looks of all the male eyes. "They are tricky little bastards."

Naruto knew that his eyes were so wide that they would soon pop if he was not careful.

"Can we please stop talking about rats while we eat?" Shikamaru sighed in exasperation. Wouldn't you know it, he was unfazed by the size of the rats.

"So they are about the size of a cat." Suigetsu was in full terror mode now. Even Naruto noticed it. The only one that didn't was Tenten and she just nodded her head in agreement. "Oh. My. God!"

"Sui," Sasuke pulled the slender man into his arms. "Nothing will get you. Not as long as I am here."

Naruto didn't know what to make of the loving scene of two of his best friends. He knew that they were a couple, and they made a cute one at that, yet it was all new to him.

Tenten and Hinata were both unsure as to what was going on, they watched in silence as Sasuke guided Suigetsu out of the large dinning room and up towards the stairs. Once the duo was out of the room, Shikamaru laughed at the girls' expression.

"Nothing to worry about." he informed them in his lazy drawl. "Suigetsu is afraid of a lot of things. And to combat that fear, Sasuke is the only one that can help him. He is after all a big softie."

"Not really," Naruto defended the near albino boy that had captured Sasuke's heart. "To hear Sasuke…"

"Oh shut up you." Shikamaru groaned. "I didn't want to hear about that."

Chuckling, Naruto nodded his head as he stood up, gathering the dishes on the table. Since the girls had fixed dinner, he and Shika would do the clean up.

It only took ten minutes to do up all the dishes and put them in the cupboards.

Naruto was absently wiping the counter and old fashioned stove as Tenten walked in. "Can you join Hinata and I for a game tonight?" her voice was soft and made Naruto think of a beautiful melody. That was what her voice was like, a song, even when she was upset or in a bad mood, it was a lovely melody. If Naruto had liked girls he would have liked her a lot. Alas, he liked boys.

"Sure," Naruto grinned, "We can all play cards or something."

"Yahtzee!" Shikamaru smiled.

"Well its actually cards we were thinking about." Tenten said. "Poker, or Black Jack. Something along those lines."

"As long as we don't lose too much money."

"Or clothes." Shikamaru added.

Laughing, Naruto nodded his head. "Yeah, don't cheat."

Tenten rolled her eyes and led the boys to the library where Hinata was shuffling a deck of cards. The entire room was more than a little creepy, with animal heads looking down on them and watching them move around the room.

All the books in the room were old tomes that had seen better days, some were in decent shape, others smelled like they were rotten. Naruto had never known that books could smell so bad. "We need to clean out those smelly books." he said as the cards were dealt for Black Jack.

"I couldn't agree more." Shikamaru slightly curled his mouth in disgust. "Why do today though what you can do tomorrow?"

Nodding solemnly, Naruto agreed, "So true."

"So you two are both a bunch of procrastinators?" Hinata shyly asked.

"They are just plain lazy." Tenten laughed.

"We are not lazy, we just put off that which can be done tomorrow for tomorrow."

"And when tomorrow comes you put it off once more right?"

"Nah, we just find more interesting things to do, or we forget all about it, till we have to confront it once more."

"And," Shikamaru added, "we do what needs to be done when we have to. Like the dishes or laundry."

Hinata shyly giggled, she was enjoying the light teasing going on between them and didn't want it to end. Everyone in the room minus Naruto knew that she had a crush on the blond air head. And she was enjoying getting to know him better.

"So," Tenten changed the subject, "What do you two think that noise was earlier? I mean this is your house and all that."

Naruto looked over at his best friend, he didn't realize how much he relied on him. It was all his life that mattered, Shika was a constant. He relied more on his friend growing up than he had on his grandfather, not to say that Jiraiya neglected him, far from it. What it had been was that Jiraiya was more busy with his novels than anything and the free time he had was spent promoting them.

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and said in a bored tone, "All I can say for sure is that it was not rats. It most likely is a ghost."

"Are you serious?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru just looked at his friend without having to say anything, and Naruto groaned from the slight trepidation that went through him.

"I still think that it was rats." Tenten harrumphed.

"Think whatever you want." Shika said as if saying why the hell did she ask his opinion then.

"Naruto," Tenten started, "what do you think?"

"Seriously?" Naruto asked incredulously. "I think Shikamaru is right. If it had been rats then we would have noticed right away wouldn't we? So it leaves the only other thing as being a ghost. Or someone pulling a prank on us. And if that is the case then why would they do that? I don't know anyone here and so that means that they are after you two. So does anyone not like you two enough that would do something like this?"

Tenten and Hinata both looked uncomfortable at how bluntly Naruto had asked.

"Lets just forget it." Shikamaru said. "Lets enjoy some cards and not talk about all that stuff right now."

Everyone readily agreed and proceeded to do just that. For the next two hours the four of them joked around while playing cards.

It was near midnight when they all headed up to their rooms to get some sleep. Naruto had barely entered the bedroom when a blood curdling scream rent the still night air, sending chills through his body. It had come from Sasuke and Suigetsu's room across the hall from his room. For a brief moment a uncontrollable fear settled in his heart.

"Ghost pack rats…" Suigetsu screamed as Naruto opened their bedroom door allowing everyone in the house to rush in and witness a still half asleep Suigetsu swatting Sasuke with a pillow. They were both naked and only partially covered.

"Sui…" Sasuke spoke quietly while the pillow continued to pummel him. "Its okay."

Suigetsu slowly halted his arm welding thankfully not a sword, but instead a pillow, and orientation visibly appearing on his features. "Sa-Sasuke?"

"Yes Sui," Sasuke said, still as calm as ever, "Its only me. And now the others."

Suigetsu turned a delicate pink as he looked at the others, absently he pulled the sheet up over his torso even though everyone had already noticed how well endowed the man was. "Sorry for disturbing you guys…"

Shikamaru only snorted as he walked out of the room, satisfied that no one was being harmed. Hinata blushed at the implication of the two cute guys being naked in bed together referred to, before she bowed her head and apologized profusely. Tenten only nodded her head and left, pulling Hinata along with her.

"Go back to bed…" Naruto grinned and left as well, closing the door on them with a small smile on his features.

Shikamaru was leaning against the wall in Naruto's room. "So what do you think?"

Naruto knew what his friend meant, "I think he just had a nightmare from all the talk we had at dinner."

"Like I said earlier, Suigetsu is just a softie."

"Whatever…" Naruto chuckled.

"How about I go get us a couple beers from the kitchen and we go out on the deck?" Shikamaru motioned towards the deck off the bedroom that Naruto had. Each bedroom had a deck, Naruto's though was the only one that was secure enough to go out on.

"Sounds good to me." Naruto agreed, never realizing just how much he missed sharing a room with Shikamaru. "I'll meet you out on the deck then."

"Sure." Shikamaru headed out to get the beers as Naruto went out on the deck.

* * *

Hinata woke up through the night, a noise had disturbed her sleep.

"Is an-any o-one he-here?" her room was deathly silent.

Flipping on the night light next to her brass bed, she looked around. Everything seemed to be all right. Getting out of bed, she absently put her fuzzy slippers on and headed out the door. All that talk earlier had disturbed her more than she had let Tenten know. Deep down she also felt that this house was haunted. She had from the first time she had seen it as a child. And then when she had heard the stories about it, how when Orochimaru had as a child been dared to come into the house, and nearly died. Now irony was he lived next door, no one paid him any attention though, everyone just said he was a little insane. Hinata though knew, she knew that he had experienced something so frightening that he had been scarred for life.

When Naruto and Shikamaru had invited them to move in with them, she had ignored her instinct and allowed the cute blond to persuade her. Now she was having doubts, sometimes she would notice that the porcelain dolls that she had collected over the years and had on display in her room, had been moved around, as if someone had been playing with them. Other times she just felt as if someone were watching her, even if she was in a room with no one else around.

Her throat was parched, as if she were in a arid desert. Her tongue felt thick and she went down the hall, past Naruto's door, past Shikamaru's door, and headed down the stairs, feeling a slight chill lingering in the air at the top of the steps.

Even though she was thirsty, her feet led her to the family portrait that hung at the base of the wide stairs. She studied the family, all of them looked fake. As if not showing their true self. The parents were blind to the three identical girls.

One girl seemed to be hiding a secret that the family would most likely be scandalized by. One of the girls seemed to be so timid that she was afraid to look out towards the person that was painting the portrait. The final girl had a air about her that made Hinata shiver. Her hazel eyes seemed to be judging Hinata and not liking what they saw. Moving slightly, Hinata kept her eyes on the portrait. Sure enough those same hazel eyes followed her every movement…

Somehow this feeling came over Hinata, a feeling that Hinata couldn't pinpoint, as if her very life was now being forfeit.


	3. Nightmares

**Disclaimer:**_** I do not own Naruto… I wish I did.**_

_**Attention:**__ In this chapter, is some supernatural, some minor angst, and a little disturbing bathroom scene. Also, Gaara will be introduced by the end of this chapter. It is a NaruGaa, so please bear in mind I do not want them to rush into a relationship, so they will go slow and gradual. Don't hate me for not rushing them please!_

* * *

_I believe in everything until its disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now? _

**John Lennon**

"_I see dead people"_

**The Sixth Sense**

**Chapter 3: **_Nightmares_

Sunlight streaming into the room woke Naruto up. His head was pounding from the twelve pack of beer that Shikamaru had brought up the night before, on top of that the morning sun refused to let him go back to sleep.

Groaning, he rolled over onto his stomach. His head felt as if a semi had plowed into it and smashed it between the fender and a concrete wall…

"I am never going to drink again." he told no one.

His imagination must be on overdrive, it felt like a hand going through his hair, either that or a breeze. He looked towards the windows and French door that had no curtains, like an idiot, the other day he had taken them down so that he could get some blinds installed, and had never installed the blinds. They were all closed and no breeze was coming from them. Even with his head turned, he still felt a slight pressure of something against his sleep tousled hair. When he reached up to feel his hair though, nothing was there.

Sighing, he slowly sat up. He had aspirins in the bathroom, and he knew from experience that he needed to drink water, and lots of it, to rehydrate the fluids that drinking beer had stolen from him.

His bathroom just made him feel funny, the way you feel when you are sitting in a empty room that someone had just died in. You don't know that they died though so you look around and feel the presence, not realizing that what you feel is that soul. Kind of like that feeling you get in a empty theatre where you are in the middle of the theatre and just waiting for other theatre goers to show up.

He made quick work of the bathroom, rushing in and grabbing the bottle of aspirins in the medicine cabinet before stepping out of the room. Clutching them in his hand, he left the room and nearly collided with Suigetsu in the hall.

"About time you get up."

"What time is it?" his voice seemed to echo inside his own head.

"About nine. Tenten left for work about an hour ago." Suigetsu grinned, having forgotten all about the dream he had the night before. "She did say that she would be bringing home some traps. I still think it was ghosts though."

"Why not just get some rat poison? That would be better, we don't have kids that would get into it and we don't have pets so that would be better than finding dead rats in a trap."

Suigetsu shuddered, "Either way is sick. If we don't find them and they die from poison wouldn't it start to stink?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto headed for the steps. His room was at the top of the stairs, directly across from the master bed room. "Is Shikamaru up yet?"

"Don't know." Suigetsu went back to peeling the stained wall covering off the wall.

"Well then where is Sasuke?"

"Out, he said something about going to find some paneling or something."

"Oh okay." Naruto assumed that Hinata was with Tenten, "I'll just go get something to eat then start helping."

"No worries," Suigetsu called after him, "I work fine alone, you know that."

"Yeah…" Naruto got to the bottom step, his voice trailed off as he noticed the portrait of the family was missing. Shrugging his shoulders, he could really care less, he hated it anyway.

By noon, Naruto, who had been working on the porch, smiled as he saw Sasuke's car pulling up by the front door. When he stepped out of the car, a bag of McDonalds in his hands, Naruto grinned. Even though it hadn't been that long ago that he had a Big Mac, the thought of one right now sounded wonderful.

"Hey dobe, where is Sui?" he jumped up the steps.

"Upstairs in the hall I think. What is in the bag?"

"Lunch, what did you think? A severed hand?"

"Ha-ha, very funny…" Naruto swatted at him as he walked past.

Like a little lost puppy, the blond followed the raven haired man into the house.

Shikamaru slept through lunch, as a result, Naruto ate the Big Mac for himself and for his friend.

When the lazy guy woke up around two, he was too damn cheerful for Naruto's liking. They playfully bickered while working on the porch railing, about random things.

* * *

Tenten had bought the rat traps, they were in a bag in the trunk. Singing while she drove, she wondered what Naruto and Shikamaru were planning on fixing for dinner. She hoped it would be better than the last time, ramen. She didn't mind ramen, yet for her it was more or less a snack that is best at night, while watching TV. Preferably a horror or a comedy, not a drama or romance. Those required popcorn and/or chocolate, action movies for her were best with ice cream.

The thought of food was making her more hungry, she had skipped lunch to search for the traps. They better damn well appreciate it, she silently told herself.

The house was beautiful, almost all the lights were on downstairs, out on the porch were Shikamaru and Naruto. The others must be inside.

Yesterday she hadn't realized that Sasuke and Suigetsu were lovers, now though that she knew, she thought that they suited one another. In fact they seemed to fit. Like two halves of a whole. She desperately wanted to find her other half, she had thought she had with Hinata's cousin Neji, yet he never reciprocated her feelings, well not that she was aware of.

"I got the traps." she called out to her two new friends.

Naruto grinned at her and was about to jump down and help when Suigetsu came running out of the house at full speed, knocking Naruto over in his haste to get away from Sasuke.

"Get that thing away from me." Suigetsu hastily got to his feet, fleeing once more.

Sasuke came out of the house holding a used condom. When he noticed Tenten, he halted and tossed the condom over the rail. Her eyes widened, not from the shock of seeing the used condom, from the fact that yesterday Sasuke had been all serious, and today he had done a turn around. She thought it was cute how he was teasing his lover.

Slowly she climbed the stairs. It was Shikamaru that spoke up. "Where is your friend? Hinata?"

Glancing around, she noticed that everyone was on the porch except for Hinata. "I don't know, when I left this morning, I decided to let her sleep, she has to work early tomorrow and I don't think she got a good nights sleep last night due to your friend." with the last part of what she said, she nearly glared at Suigetsu.

"Don't look at me." Suigetsu held up his hand in self defense.

"You mean she was here all day?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, where else would she be on a day off." Tenten snorted. "She is most likely still in her room, she is a little shy around guys."

"No need to be here," Sasuke joked, "The only one that likes girls is too lazy to do anything to her."

"Shut it duck ass."

"No, Pineapple head."

Naruto held up both of his hands in front of his two friends and said, "Please both of you, show more respect."

Tenten put the traps down on the porch, Suigetsu promptly rummaged in the bag, "Damn, why so many?" she heard as she went into the house.

Ignoring him, she said, "I'm going to go get Hinata, would you guys mind opening those?"

"We can do this," Sasuke said, "You and your friend over there fix dinner okay dobe?"

"Sure Sasuke," Naruto grinned at Sasuke, "Come on Shika."

Upstairs, Tenten opened the door to Hinata's bed room. It was empty. To be safe, she looked everywhere, under the bed even. No Hinata in the room.

A nagging feeling washed over her, yet she brushed it off, in all her years of being Hinata's friend, their would be times that Hinata would just go off alone for a little while, so she tried to convince herself that that was what had happened here. She pictured Hinata sleeping in and waking up late in the morning. Maybe even around noon, like she sometimes did. Feeling like she needed to be alone, and going out for a walk.

If Hinata was not back by dusk, she would then worry.

Going into her own room that was on the other side of the bathroom, she decided to take a bath. That claw foot tub was heavenly, if it was full it covered her entire upper body and she could relax. Turning the water on to start the water to heat up, she put the stopper in.

Within moments the bathroom steamed up. She was not able to lock the doors (it had three, one to the hall, one to her bedroom, and one to Hinata's), she just was grateful the house had so many bathrooms.

Taking a washcloth and heating it up, she then placed it over her eyes. Allowing the hot water to ease the tension out of her body. Her hands were on the sides of the tub, she was so relaxed that when she heard a strange laugh, her heart beat nearly froze. It was coming from right above her. She just knew if she were to open her eyes, she would see someone.

Haltingly, she lifted her left hand and slowly pulled the wash cloth off.

Nothing! No one was there. She knew what she had heard.

Even in the hot water, a chill went through her. The towel was on the rack, she slowly stood up in the tub. Water dripping down her bare body.

Drip… drip… drip. The water leaked out from the ornate faucet.

As Tenten reached for the towel, she felt the pressure of a hand on her back. No fucking way… she thought, this was not happening. No one could possibly be behind her. Behind her was the wall. Impossible.

She was falling. She knew it, she knew that within moments she would be plunged into the water. She had to fight back. No way would some fuckin ghost get her underwater without a fight.

Her hands grabbed at whatever they could. As it turned out, her right hand clutched the wrap around shower curtain, and her left arm pounded hard on the side of the tub.

"Ooowwww!" she yelled. Panic raising up within her. "Naruto!" she nearly screamed.

All the while, the pressure on her back, was trying to force her down into the water. She was now on her knees and grabbing the side of the tub and the shower curtain, she tried to stand back up. She was nearly up again when the pressure just seemed to vanish.

"Naruto…" she stood up and had one leg out of the tub when the pressure returned, this time from in front of her. It felt like someone's hand wrapping around her throat and pushing her back into the tub. A ear splitting scream escaped as she fell back wards, pulling the shower curtain that she was still clutching, with her. Desperately she clawed at her neck as her head sunk below the water. She started to pound on the tub, splashing water out. She couldn't hold her breath forever. She prayed that someone had heard her and soon would help her out of the tub.

It seemed to be an eternity, she was splashing so much water that half of it had left the tub, it still was not enough though and as the room began to fade, she knew she would die soon. No one had heard her.

A buzzing and pounding was heard in her head, that is when she saw a vague outline of a person. And as the life was slowly fading from her, striking blond hair flowing above her, so like a angel's, was the last thing she saw.

* * *

"But Sasuke…" Suigetsu whined, "I don't know how to set them."

Sasuke sighed, he loved Suigetsu, truly he did, however he grew frustrated at the way his lover was such a ditz at times. "Here, gimme that." Sasuke nearly ripped the trap out of Suigetsu's hands. "You place them once I set them."

Suigetsu smiled, he was getting ready to place the trap when they heard Tenten yelling for Naruto from the bathroom.

"What the hell?" Suigetsu mumbled as the trap went off in his hand, resulting in his fingers being trapped where the rat was suppose to go. "Look what she did."

Sasuke helped Suigetsu with his fingers that were being pinched then when Tenten yelled once more, he was about to go get the dobe when a blood curdling scream rent the house.

It was cut off in mid scream. Sasuke knew that Tenten needed immediate help, he rushed to the door, "Go get Naruto." he yelled at Suigetsu.

He didn't even look to see if Suigetsu was going. When he went to go into the bathroom however, he expected the door to open easily, it didn't and he hit it hard.

"What's the matter?" Naruto said from behind him, "Why did Tenten scream?"

"That's the million dollar question dobe." Sasuke was irritated. "Is there another way into here?"

"Just the two bedrooms."

"We have to hurry." Sasuke rushed to the one that was open, dolls were tossed all about the room as if someone had used their arm and just pushed them off the shelves. He accidentally stepped on a dolls head and smashed the porcelain face when he tried to get into the bathroom. If he had been superstitious then he would have thought that was a omen.

Now water was seeping out from under the door. He could hear the splashing sounds and it sounded like pounding coming from somewhere on the other side of the door.

With both of his fists, he started to pound on the door as well.

Then silence.

Nothing was worse than silence right now.

He wanted to scream in frustration, he didn't know the girl all that well, yet he didn't want to have her die, not if he could help it.

Something told him to once more try the doorknob.

Without any effort, the door swung open, as if the pounding they had done earlier had been all an illusion. Glancing around in the largest bathroom in the house, he spotted her. One leg was sticking out of the tub, it was slightly bent. That was all he could see. Crossing the threshold, Sasuke felt the dread. Tenten was floating in the water, her hands were relaxed near the sides, a slight discoloring was starting to form around her slender throat.

Suigetsu rushed past him and started to pull her out. "Don't just stand there, help me get her out of the water." his voice was commanding for once, the other three males in the room hurried to comply.

"Does anyone know CPR?" Shikamaru asked as they pulled the obvious lifeless body from the tub.

"Suigetsu does." Sasuke felt as if this were some crazy dream. This was not happening. How could a ghost hurt someone? He had always believed that they couldn't hurt the living.

Naruto was thinking similar thoughts, no way could a ghost hurt a living person. This had to be someone that was alive. Someone that had done this with the help of the ghost maybe. Looking around he realized that Hinata was still MIA. "Where is Hinata?" he asked as Suigetsu started CPR.

"Don't worry about that right now," Sasuke said, "We need to call 911."

Momentarily, Naruto's brain froze. He pulled out his cell phone and couldn't remember the number to 911 when he realized how idiotic that was. The operator asked him to state his emergency and location. "My friend drowned, we are at home."

"Never mind," Sasuke said as Tenten coughed weakly, her eyes fluttered open briefly before closing once more as water came pouring out of her lungs through her mouth. "We will just take her to the hospital." he helped Suigetsu carry the now only unconscious girl out of the house. She must be in shock.

Naruto and Shikamaru followed them out to Sasuke's car, not once did Tenten wake up. Once they were alone, they silently went into the house and finished fixing dinner.

Naruto's thoughts were in a turmoil. He wanted desperately to leave the house, yet he also wanted to stay to find out what was going on. While they were silently eating dinner, Naruto came to the conclusion that they would stay. Even if it meant having a ghost or two. He wanted to find out what was causing things to be happening. And he would not want to be thought of as a coward.

"If you want to leave, I don't blame you." Naruto informed Shikamaru. "I cant though. And I don't think they can hurt us unless we allow it to happen." To his own ears he sounded naïve and a fool, he wouldn't blame his friend if he left.

Shikamaru studied Naruto before sighing in acceptance, "We are best friends. I would be worthless if I were to leave you alone here. So I will stay too, anyway I am too lazy to die on you so you don't need to worry about me."

Grinning, Naruto couldn't explain how relieved that made him feel. He had been prepared to stay alone, yet he hadn't wanted to. He was not one to force his friends to do something they didn't want to do, so when Shika had said he would stay, it was as if his whole body had been tense and at those few words, a calmness just washed over him.

They finished dinner with them trying desperately to try to forget what had just happened. In the morning, they would head in to the hospital. For tonight though, Naruto wanted to clean the mess in that bathroom upstairs and in Hinata's room. He also needed to be here in case Hinata came back.

Shikamaru said he would clean up the dinner dishes if Naruto wanted to go up and clean the upstairs.

"How come this door wont open?" Naruto asked in confusion. Yesterday it had been fine, he had been able to go into the dank basement and get some cleaning supplies, today though, it would not budge. This door did have a lock and somewhere in the house was a skeleton key, he just couldn't remember where.

"That's odd." Shikamaru also tried the door. "We'll just have to make do without using anything in their. If you want you can help me."

Naruto nodded and started to wash the dishes.

Shortly, they were done and heading up the stairs to clean up the water and dolls. The bathroom was just like they had left it, Hinata's room though was spotless. In fact nothing in the room was disturbed. The doll that Sasuke had stepped on in his haste to get to Tenten was not broken, in fact it was placed lovingly on the bed as if someone had just placed it there.

"What the…" Naruto's voice trailed off.

"Damn." Shikamaru mumbled. They had both seen Sasuke step on the doll, it had not been an illusion.

Naruto looked around the room, "Maybe Hinata came back…"

"Yeah…" Shikamaru followed Naruto out the door, firmly closing it as he went. "Now she took off again cause Tenten is not here…"

"Yeah, that's it…" Naruto agreed, even though they both knew better.

They were both leaning against the wall across from Hinata's door, next to Tenten's when it sounded like someone was scrapping their nails along the wall, soft footsteps were heard walking away from them, towards the stairs. At the top of the stairs soft musical laughter was heard. It was definitely a girl's laughter. It went down the steps, accompanied by the sound of the steps creaking as if someone were walking down them.

In unison, they both rushed to the top of the stairs. Just as they got to the top, the house was silent.

A unseen force was compelling them down the stairs. Naruto had to suppress the uncontrollable urge to grab Shikamaru's hand for comfort. A fear so intense took root in his body. Soon he knew that he would start to shake with the fear. The tiny hairs on the back of his neck were so sensitive at that moment that he could feel the tiny dust particles landing on them.

He was so thankful when Shikamaru grabbed his hand, he knew that his was clammy and a little stiff. He couldn't help it. He was just thankful that he was not shaking from the fear.

"What is going on?" Shikamaru sounded as if he were down a long dark tunnel. Naruto could hear his voice, he knew that his friend was standing right next to him, yet he sounded so far away.

"I don't know." Naruto's own voice cracked on those three words. He had barely managed to get them out of his throat.

Shikamaru's hand tightened around Naruto's, it was nearly unbearable. "We need to call in a expert…"

"Yeah I know…" his voice trailed off and was nearly drowned out by the sounds coming from upstairs now. The sounds were coming from Naruto's bed room. It was unmistakable. A shiver went through Naruto.

It was the scream that got to Naruto the most… it just made Naruto want to cover his ears and curl in on himself. As the scream slowly faded away, it was replaced by a soft pleading voice that said, "Please let me out…"

"Dude…" Shikamaru softly said, "It's in your room now."

"Don't you think I know that?" Naruto was on edge. NO way would he ever go in that room alone again.

"Lets find a professional."

"What about a priest?"

"That would take forever, and besides don't you want to have it gone soon?"

"Yeah… You are right."

Shikamaru pulled Naruto into the library where his lap top was. Thank God for Wi-Fi…

On the search engine on his computer, Shikamaru typed in ghost hunters, it came up with episodes on TV and then some other sites, clicking the first one that didn't have something about episodes, Shikamaru was directed to a safe website that had a contact us part. Clicking on it he found a option to e-mail or call. It was time to use the phone, he couldn't wait to speak to someone through e-mail and not even know if they had gotten it till next year.

Naruto must have had the same thought he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed the number, his fingers shaking with each button he pushed.

The other phone was answered on the second ring.

"Suna Psychic Puppets…" the last word was in a near whisper as if ashamed to say it, "This is Gaara speaking, how can I help you tonight?"

_**A/N: **__This chapter, and quick update go to the reviewers I have gotten, ChepOnFire, Beyond Birthday's Lover, YamiTenshi, and JTWSNW20! Thank you so very much for reviewing, it made my day! Now for a quick Question for you reviewers, do you want the next chapter to be in Naruto's or Gaara's POV! I will let you decide in your reviews. Hugz to you all… Also, the movies that were mentioned with snacks are my preferences. Not necessarily Tenten… tell me how I did with her bathroom scene please, it was a first time for me to write something like that… as for Hinata… you tell me…_


	4. Puppets

**Disclaimer:**** This is your generic disclaimer, I do not own Naruto, I only own this plot that some might not like, if you don't like it my question to you is why are you reading it? Well for those that do like it, I love you! I love these kind of stories, along with comedy… enjoy!**

_**In this chapter, not much will happen, other than some of the history of the house being revealed along with Naruto and Gaara meeting. Next chapter will have more action, this chapter is more or less needed though for the story. This chapter is dedicated to Beyond Birthday's Lover, who suggested both POV. Thank you!**_

* * *

_We degenerate into hideous puppets, haunted by the memory of the passions of which we were much too afraid, and the exquisite temptations that we had not the courage to yield to._

**Oscar Wilde**

**Chapter 4:**_ Puppets_

Gaara hung the phone up, something told him that this was the real deal. After the past couple of weeks of having people prank calling him or his siblings, they would finally have a real case. It was a good thing too, they were running low on the savings that they had and would soon need to replenish it.

He never thought of those things, it was Temari that made sure the bills got paid, and that they had food to eat. Without her, Kankuro and himself would be homeless and possibly dead from starvation.

He hated that the few real cases that they had gotten were few and far between. The fact that no one seemed to need him was good, yet he had thought that more people would in fact use his services. Well that just goes to show that most of the spirits that pestered Gaara were not a bother to other people.

Why him though, he continually wanted to know. Did he have a large neon sign on his back telling all the lost souls to haunt him?

As a young child, he hadn't known that the souls that he encountered were not real people. He had assumed that everyone could see them. When his dad had found out, he had promptly been institutionalized. He had been blamed for nearly everything as a child, in their dad's opinion, he was a freak, he had killed their mom, and was able to communicate with ghosts. Temari and Kankuro never once thought of him as a freak though, and for that he had been grateful. After spending nearly two years in one institution after another, he had met a man named Baki that took him in and trained him.

Baki was a low level psychic, he had said that Gaara was a ultra high level one. As a child, Gaara didn't know what that meant. Now as a young adult, he wished he was just normal. Or as normal as someone could be.

Baki was working as a cop psychic and often would ask Gaara's help on certain cases, other than Baki, Gaara only had Temari and Kankuro. He had no social life what so ever, no friends and no one to love. He was lost in his thoughts as the phone rang once more, it would be that Naruto Uzamaki guy that had called earlier.

"Suna Psychic Puppets…" God he hated the name of the agency. Temari had told each of them to think of one word, Gaara had thought up Suna, Temari had thought of Psychic and Kankuro had thought of Puppets. Kankuro had refused to think of a different word. He had claimed that it sounded good. To Gaara it sounded like they did puppet shows or something. Well now after three years, it had stuck, and Kankuro did do robotic puppets to do filming. At least that's what Kankuro referred to them as. "This is Gaara, how can I help you this evening?" Just because he was seventy five percent sure it was Naruto, didn't mean he shouldn't answer the phone properly.

"Gaara… This is Naruto." in the background, Gaara could hear a woman laughing, "we got the tickets. Your flight leaves Phoenix at six thirty your time. We got three tickets." Naruto gave the confirmation number and time it would get to Denver. "We will be at the airport to pick you up."

"Okay." Gaara knew that they were serious now. Before he had only a gut feeling that they had been.

"See you soon."

The hope in Naruto's voice was relayed thorough the phone line.

Once he had hung the phone up, he went into Kankuro's bed room. It was nearly two in the morning here, he knew that Kankuro would want to pack his equipment himself. So he headed in and turned the light on.

On the bed, Kankuro groaned, rolled over and promptly resumed the light snores that indicated he was still asleep.

Gaara pulled the blankets down off his brother, "Get up."

"Wha…" Kankuro reached down, trying to pull the blankets back up.

"If you don't get up, I will pack your stuff and whatever gets broken on our way to our new job will be your fault."

"Jus five more minu…" Kankuro was mumbling near unintelligibly.

"If you say so." Gaara started rummaging around the 'puppets' not doing more than making some noise.

Kankuro sat up in bed, "Get the hell away from Karasu, Kuroari, and my new puppet Sanshōuo."

"So we have to be at the airport by five thirty. The flight leaves at six thirty. So hurry up."

"What the hell? Where are we going?"

"Like I said," Gaara said as if speaking to a slow child, "We are going to go to work in Denver. Well technically its near Denver somewhere…"

"You don't even know where it is at?"

Looking away, Gaara just said, "I have a vague idea."

"Oh great, you have a vague idea…"

"Just get ready." Gaara said as he left the room. Across the hall, he lightly knocked on his only sisters door. He knew that she would be still asleep, so he let himself in, the only reason he had knocked was out of a deep seated fear she had instilled in both her brothers at an early age.

* * *

"So…" Shikamaru quirked his eyebrow, "are they coming?"

Naruto nodded his head, "We will need to pick them up at the airport in Denver."

"At least someone will get here to take care of this damn ghost though."

"Yeah, he said that it will take about a week or two though. He cant help anyone pass on to the next level until he knows why they are still lingering."

The laughter was more subdued, Naruto looked up at the top of the stairs where it was coming from, he hoped he was doing the right thing. Regret filled him that Tenten had gotten hurt, along with worry about Hinata. He didn't know the two girls that well, and he didn't want anything to happen to anyone else that was his friends. Maybe he should just leave the house… nah, he couldn't do that, he could have everyone else leave till everything was done, that way they could be safe.

As if the thought of his friends had somehow summoned them, the front door opened and Suigetsu and Sasuke walked in.

"How is Tenten?" Shikamaru asked before Naruto could.

Sasuke sat down across from them and crossed his legs, "The doctor seems to think she will pull through. We were able to see her, she doesn't remember everything, she just said that some woman was trying to drown her."

Suigetsu sat down next to Sasuke in exhaustion. "I don't think she will want to come back here."

"I don't blame her." Naruto said, "In fact I want all of you to leave till this is all over."

"No fuckin way." Shikamaru glared at Naruto.

"On this one I agree with him." Sasuke nodded his head at Shikamaru. Suigetsu nodded in agreement.

"No way can we desert a friend in need." Suigetsu said.

"I know you all mean well," Naruto began. "So all I am going to say is that I will not allow any of you to stay."

"Who exactly do you think you are?" Suigetsu leaned forward, "I do not think that you are my parent or my maker, so you have no say in what I do."

"Sui-" Naruto was about to reprimand him when he was interrupted by Shikamaru.

"Naruto, just let it be, you can not dictate how we want to be here to assist you if you need it."

"Three against one." Sasuke absently rubbed small circles on Suigetsu's back, "Can you believe I am siding with Shikamaru?"

"Hard to imagine…" Shikamaru grumbled. "And besides, I am the one that found the ghost buster."

"When theirs something strange in your neighborhood…" Suigetsu laughed softly. "Who you gonna call?"

"Ghost busters," Naruto answered with a small smile. "Okay… okay, you all can stay. On one condition, no one is allowed to be alone again. We all have a buddy with us that way we will not be hurt alone."

"Yeah," Sasuke sourly added, "we all get hurt in pairs now. If you are gonna die by a ghost, at least you wont die alone, you will have a buddy to die with you."

"Stop being so cynical." Naruto said.

"I want to be Naruto's death buddy." Suigetsu laughed.

Sasuke glared at Naruto before pulling Sui down on his lap, "You will be mine."

"Whatever," Shikamaru just shrugged, "I didn't want to hang around Sasuke anyway."

"We gotta go." Naruto stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"Do I hear a note of panic?" Shikamaru teased Sasuke.

"Shut up you lazy bones."

"We are going to go pick up the ghost busters at the airport." Naruto ignored the two.

"We have an airport?" Suigetsu looked up.

"No," Naruto sighed, "We are going to Denver to pick them up."

"What their was no one local?"

"Yeah, as if." Shikamaru started to laugh, "Ghost busters limited is opening a branch near you…New store hours are from ten a.m. till two p.m. Make sure you ask about the special of the day…"

Naruto chuckled and pulled his best friend out the door after him.

Once they were gone, Suigetsu looked at Sasuke and said, "Are you sure we should stay here with him gone?"

"They wont be gone long, and we can get some sleep then go see Tenten."

"Can we stay here on the couch then?"

Sasuke put his lovers head in his lap and smiled before softly saying, "If that is what you want."

It seemed like the two of them had just fallen asleep when someone was pounding on the door to wake them up. Sasuke detangled himself from Suigetsu and stood up, Suigetsu was slowly stretching before he too stood up.

When Sasuke opened the front door, standing on the stoop as if he didn't want to be there was a middle aged man wearing wire rimmed glasses. He reminded Sasuke of a deer caught in a car's head lights, frozen in fear.

"Yeah," Sasuke said a bit grumpily, "What do you want?"

"Are you the owner?" The man said.

"What do you mean am I the owner?"

"Of this house?"

"Oh no."

"I need to see the owner."

"He's gone for the day." Sasuke didn't know how long Naruto would be gone, so he just said for the day. Besides, it was not this strange persons privilege of knowing all about Naruto.

"My name is Kabuto, my boss lives next door, his name is Orochimaru. He needs to tell the owner the history of this house, so he sent me to get him."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Would you please act as the owners proxy?"

Sasuke glanced at Suigetsu, Sui shrugged his shoulders at the silent question. "I guess we can." Sasuke said.

"Oh thank you very much."

Sasuke let Suigetsu go out first, then closed the front door. "We can walk." the man was saying, "Its just around the curve in the road."

"We know where it is." Sasuke said. Like always, Suigetsu was allowing Sasuke to do all the talking, Sui was just observing everything.

Orochimaru's house was large, yet not grand like Naruto's, it was made out of log and brick. With a circular driveway and a two car detached garage. Typical mountain cabin. Nothing extraordinary.

Inside, the house had a faint odor of death and sickness. Sasuke could feel the close proximity of it, like it was a sentient being. When they first saw Orochimaru, they noticed that he was in fact close to death, by the looks of him, he didn't have long.

"You are not the owner." His smooth voice sounded accusing, yet intrigued at the sight of the raven headed youth.

"Sorry," Sasuke sat down without being invited and pulled Suigetsu down next to him. "Naruto is away on business right now."

"Ah… you are not sorry indeed. To be young again, I would show you how to live life to the fullest."

If the older man had not been so ill, Sasuke would have sworn that he was flirting with him. "As you can see, I do that already." he indicated Suigetsu.

Orochimaru didn't pay any attention to the other youth sitting next to Sasuke, "Tell me boy, what is your name?"

"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto assisted the ill man into a sitting position, "Please remember what I told you."

"I know Kabuto." Orochimaru seemed to get irritated.

"My name is Sasuke, this is Suigetsu."

"Well Sasuke-kun, would you like some coffee or tea?" Orochimaru blatantly ignored Suigetsu.

"No thanks."

Kabuto was the one to offer some to Suigetsu. Which he also declined.

"You need to understand that house is evil." Orochimaru pushed Kabuto's hand away as Kabuto put the oxygen to his nose. "I will tell you if I need that up my nose."

"Sorry Orochimaru-sama."

After Orochimaru took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, he continued. "My great grand parents worked for the family that built that house. They had money, and lots of it. Very prominent in the community. Eric Forsythe was the owner of the local silver mine, his wife, Elizabeth, was a socialite and when they were married, he built that house for her. The parties that they held in that house was legendary for this part of the state, rumor even had it that he was destined to be governor of the state. They had three daughters, triplets. Jessica was the oldest, Angela was the middle child and then was Sara. All three were beauties, a little spoiled, yet given who the parents were, who could blame them?

"My Great grand father was the one that took care of all out door chores and the few horses that they had. My great grand mother was the maid, cook housekeeper, in other words, anything to do with the inside of the house. When the girls vanished, my great grand mother was only twenty. She had a brother that had come up missing when he had been ten, about four years before all the events that were to come. No one in town made a big deal about it due to them being poor, yet my grand mother never forgot the uncle she would have had if he had lived.

"Enough about my family," Orochimaru pulled on the oxygen tubing before continuing. "You want to know about that house.

"Once the girls vanished, Eric and Elizabeth were never the same. They rarely ventured out of the house, and when they did they did not look the same. It was as if they had aged twenty years. My great grand parents were married and then a year later my grandmother was born. That was when the family paid for this house to be built for my family. My grandmother used to tell me the stories of having to go up to that house while her mom and dad would work. She used to feel as if the Forsythe's were watching her. Well considering she was a girl just like their missing daughters, it was no wonder.

"My grandmother was six when Eric and Elizabeth committed suicide together." Orochimaru paused to take a sip of water before continuing. "She told me that at the funeral only one other person was in attendance besides her family. That one person was Hiro Uzamaki. He had been staying at the house at the time of the triplets disappearance."

At his words Sasuke nearly gasped and Suigetsu did choke. "Our friend is Naruto Uzamaki." Sasuke said quietly.

* * *

Karin had driven all night, she had hacked into Sasuke's pc and found out where he was. Now if only that damn map quest had given accurate directions. She was going a little too fast on the dirt road and nearly spun the car out of control as she rounded a curve and passed a log cabin. Rounding another curve the road abruptly ended at the base of a large home. Cheering silently to herself, she noticed Sasuke's small Honda. Next to it was Shikamaru's truck.

She had found it… She knew that she was showing up unexpected, yet she had wanted to surprise them. She was a little upset with Naruto for not inviting her like a proper friend should, however she would forgive him when he let her stay as well.

As she climbed the steps to the front door, a chilly pre winter wind kicked up, sending chills down her spine. Lifting the brass knocker on the door, she let it drop. The sound seemed to echo along the porch. A few leaves swirled around her ankles as she waited. After counting to ten, she lifted the knocker again, maybe they didn't hear her, she reasoned.

Peering in the nearest window, she called out, "Sasuke? Naruto? Anyone home?" she knocked on the glass a few times before walking away. They must be still asleep, they all liked to sleep in, and it was only nine a.m. so she walked the porch, peering into every window she could find. It was while doing this that she heard a distinct click come from the French doors she was near. Someone must have unlocked them for her. Most likely Suigetsu, he was rude like that to her, even though Sasuke was _her_ boy friend, he assumed that he was more important than she was… As if. Well at least he had let her in.

As she passed the window between where she had been standing and the door, a flash went by. Suigetsu would most likely be hiding from her now, oh well she could do without seeing his ugly face.

The French doors opened easily into a comfortable room that reminded Karin of a room she had stayed in as a child at a ski resort. "Sasuke, Naruto? Wake up…"

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the late update, I wanted to post this last week, alas, I moved… I have been without Internet, cable and busy moving, so please forgive me… Much love to all of you that are taking the time to read and review this story and even though school has started back up, please don't worry, I still plan on updating this. I want to get this up weekly, so I can post the other ones that have plagued my mind lately. To those that are going back to school, have a good year! Also if anyone knows of any good beta, please let me know. I have none... so sad.**


	5. Darkness Falls

**Disclaimer:**** I make no profit from this story, I do not intend to ruin Masashi Kishimoto's creation of Naruto, I only want to borrow said characters for this pitiable plot.**

_**A/N: Thank you for the wonderful reviews, I am touched when I open my e-mail to find them. I hope you enjoy this chapter… Some troubling images may startle some, so this one is not for fans of non gore… **_

_**Chapter Five: Darkness Falls**_

_"We are fascinated by the darkness in ourselves, we are fascinated by the shadow, we are fascinated by the boogeyman."  
__**Sir Anthony Hopkins**_

Naruto pulled the van up at the airport in front of the three people that had a sign for Naruto Uzamaki. The girl was a blond, she seemed tired and agitated, the one who looked like he was wearing a cat costume was stifling a yawn, and the red head seemed to be bored.

"That must be them." Shikamaru opened the door to the van, he got out along with Naruto to help load the pile of luggage into the back.

The introductions were quick due to a cop watching them.

"Are you all hungry?" Naruto asked as they pulled out into the light of day from the arrivals terminal.

"No…"

"A little."

"Hell yeah."

The three different responses, led Naruto to the conclusion that they were hungry. He was, as well as Shikamaru, so they found a restaurant nearby and went in.

Gaara sighed, he was not used to a delay, he wanted to find out what was going on. In other words to him work was more important. He also didn't know how to deal with people that he didn't know too well and so he kept silent and ordered tea and toast while the others all ordered full meals.

Naruto watched the red head and was startled to see that he was actually cute. He seemed quiet, and looked a little on the timid side. Appearances though could be deceiving. He knew all too well.

"So how did you all decide to become Ghostbusters?" Naruto innocently asked.

Gaara widened his eyes while Temari smiled and Kankuro laughed. It was the latter that decided to respond. "Technically we only study and assist the paranormal, aka ghosts. What decided us though was Gaara here can communicate with them." The way in which he said it was full of pride.

"For how long?" Shikamaru was sipping some water as he asked.

"All his life." Kankuro smiled at his little brother. "We always knew our Gaara was special, right Tem?"

Temari looked over at her two brothers and smiled as well. "Yeah, he was always special."

"I am here you know." Gaara mumbled.

"Yeah," Temari said, "I know, its just that you never talk much around strangers."

"Well," Naruto leaned back as he watched the red head, "I hope we can all become friends."

Gaara looked up at Naruto and was startled to realize that the blond had meant what he said. "Yeah, me too." he shyly added.

"Well," Kankuro looked between the two, momentarily amazed that his brother had said he basically wanted to be friends with these two strangers. "I was wanting to find out more about this haunting you have."

"Not mush to say other than Tenten, one of our friends, was nearly killed last night." Naruto said matter of fact.

Shikamaru glanced incredulous at his best friend, "More than that has happened."

"Like what?" Temari inquired.

"Hinata has disappeared." Shikamaru said, "Along with the strange noises, that Suigetsu and Hinata thought were pack rats."

"That was because of Tenten saying they were." Naruto added.

Shikamaru snorted, "As if, well anyway, we have heard voices and now last night after Suigetsu and Sasuke took Tenten to the hospital, we heard that laughter. It was too creepy."

"I heard that while we were on the phone." Gaara said quietly.

"Yeah, we thought it was the ghost laughing about what had happened to Tenten. didn't we Shika?"

The lazy youth nodded his head in agreement before saying, "Other than that nothing else has happened. Well if you don't count the smell in some parts of the house."

"What's the history of the house?" Kankuro asked while Temari was jotting notes down on a piece of paper.

Naruto's eyes widened and he glanced at Shikamaru. "All I know is what was told to me by my attorney. It is to never be sold, and that it had been in my family for years."

"None of your family has lived in it though." Shikamaru said as an after thought.

"True…" Naruto was deep in thought, what if that was why none of the family lived in the house? Because they all knew it was haunted. What had he gotten into? Did Kakashi know?

"…did they?"

Naruto looked over at Shikamaru, "What?"

"You were not even paying attention? What a bother." Shikamaru sighed in frustration, "Why am I best friends with you again?"

"Cause you love me." Naruto grinned at him. "Cause we have known one another too long?"

"That's it." Shikamaru closed his eyes in mock irritation, "Anyway, as I was asking. Did any of your family ever mention the house to you?"

"You know as much as I do…" Naruto crossed his arms, "I think that we should have talked to Kakashi more about it."

"You don't say…" Shikamaru was irritated now.

"Why so upset?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and glanced pointedly at the three siblings that were silently watching every thing, they seemed to be a little amused. "You never learn do you?"

Laughter now filled the area as Naruto laughed. "You thought I would? That's a good one…"

The waitress showed up with the bill. Still laughing slightly, Naruto handed her one of his credit cards and glared at Temari as she was getting ready to pay.

"The Neanderthal here will be pissed off if you try to pay for anything with him around." Shikamaru stated to her, he was not as upset.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, "I will get upset if you try to pay when I hired you and so I will pay for all your expenses while you are here."

After the bill was paid, they all headed out to the serial killer van. The drive was quiet and Naruto noticed that Temari and Kankuro dozed while Shikamaru watched the passing scenery and Gaara studied something on his laptop while typing occasionally.

The drive seemed to last a long time, when they were finally past the small town and heading down the dirt road that led to the house, Shikamaru piped up and said, "Oi, Naruto, watch out. Sasuke and Suigetsu are up ahead."

"How can you tell that is them?"

"Do you know of any other couple that look like them?"

"Good point." Naruto said as they got closer, sure enough it was them. Pulling off the side of the road, Naruto yelled out the window, "Sui, Sasuke… what are you guys doing here?"

Suigetsu threw his arm over Sasuke's shoulder and grinned, his tooth poking out slightly. "We just talked with your lovable neighbor."

Sasuke snorted. "Real card that one."

"So what did he have to say?"

"Just the usual," Suigetsu chuckled, "Don't live in that evil house… too many deaths or disappearances… You know the typical thing."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "You guys need a lift?"

"Sure," Sasuke said, "even though the house is around the curve."

Suigetsu opened the door to the back of the van and smiled at the three people in there who were all looking at them with curiosity. "So," Suigetsu drawled, "You all are the Ghostbusters?"

Kankuro chuckled, "Yeah, we are the Ghostbusters."

After the two got in, Naruto took off down the dirt road. "Uh Sasuke…" his voice was full of dread, "Why is Karin's car here?"

"Oh shit…" Sasuke looked out the window, sure enough his stalkers car was parked in the driveway.

Suigetsu looked a little upset, "Who told her we came here?"

"Not me." Sasuke tried to soothe the near albino.

"Who is Karin?" Temari asked.

"Just some crazy stalker chick that said she is the only one allowed to love Sasuke even though Sasuke is in love with Suigetsu." Naruto said as he pulled the van up behind Shikamaru's truck.

"She said that she was dating Sasuke since high school." Shikamaru added.

"Just because I have known her since then means nothing," Sasuke was holding Suigetsu in his arms.

"Complications of Love…" Kankuro softly said.

"How do you know?" Temari dryly said, "You have never been in love."

"You wound me." Kankuro said as they were all piling out of the van. "I have been in love several times."

"With his puppets." Gaara added.

"Et tu, Gaara?" Kankuro mockingly placed his hand over his heart.

Naruto softly laughed, "Don't worry, I have never been in love. Neither has Shikamaru."

Shikamaru snorted, "Speak for yourself…"

"When?" Naruto tugged on his best friends arm.

"You are so blind…" Sasuke said as he walked past them bickering and headed up the steps. To change the subject he said, "If Karin is here, where is she?"

Suigetsu groaned audibly, "I hope she got lost in the forest."

Sasuke chuckled softly, "In our dreams baby." if no one had been listening they would not have been able to hear that.

Naruto unlocked the door while Suigetsu had paused with Sasuke so that they could lock lips.

"Uh, guys…" Naruto groaned when he opened the door. "Did, uh, either one of you leave the house all bloodied?"

"What do you mean?" Sasuke broke free of Suigetsu.

"Look for yourself." Naruto opened the door wide so that everyone who was looking over his shoulder could see inside the house as well.

Blood was everywhere in the foyer. It looked like a body had been tore open and dragged across the floor, even partway up the wall heading up the stairs. The iron and metallic smell of it indicated it to be somewhat fresh blood.

The blood on the wood floor was still shiny from being fresh, it hadn't yet had the chance to coagulate. Gingerly, Naruto stepped into the foyer, in single file, the others followed. No one wanted to touch anywhere. The blood started on the floor near the opening to the library, slowly they all followed it, their was no particular pattern to the trail. Haltingly, Naruto went up the stairs to see where it led to, that was when something came hurtling down the stairs right for him.

Gaara witnessed it all, he had never encountered a haunting this demented. He had encountered spirits that would try to do physical harm to individuals, yet nothing this extreme. When the body came down the stairs, he could vaguely make out the form of a girl standing at the top of the landing looking down on them. Her vacant eyes were fixed on Naruto, as if she were seeing him without seeing him. As he stared up at her, she turned her head and looked back at him. A chill he had never felt before went through him. Such evil was in those eyes that he was momentarily caught off guard. He never looked away though and slowly she smiled at him.

As Gaara gazed up at the girl, it seemed to cause time to momentarily stop. Nothing else mattered other than the girl, slowly he took a step towards her, only to have his foot bump into Naruto who was sitting on the floor at the bottom of the steps holding a red headed girl in his arms. The moment he looked away, time came crashing back.

"Oh my God!" Suigetsu screamed. "It's Karin!"

Sasuke took Suigetsu in his arms and held him. "Its okay baby."

"Sasuke, it's Karin."

"I know…" Sasuke absently rubbed circles onto Suigetsu's quivering back.

"Sas…" a broken voice softly called out. Everyone looked at the bloodied girl in Naruto's arms and realized that she was still alive. "Sasuke…"

Naruto was in the early stages of shock, he glanced down at the girl who was dying in his arms. "Karin…" the sobs were heard in his tone. He could see the blood gurgling up from her mouth as she tried to speak. "It's going to be all right."

"N-Naru…to." her eyes tried to focus on him. "Wh-wheres…Sas…Sasuke?"

Sasuke stepped over to the girl, "I am right here sweetie."

Haltingly she lifted her hand to reach out for him. She hadn't yet touched him when it went limp and no more gurgling noises came from her slender throat.

"Call an ambulance." Naruto nearly yelled to Shikamaru who had already been on the phone with the 911 operator. "Someone please move her body…" Naruto pleaded with the others. It was ultimately Sasuke and Gaara that moved Karin from Naruto's lap.

The rest of the day was a blur for Naruto, he recalled the cops being their to question them as the ambulance took the body away. Why the hell did they suspect him? Just because Karin had fallen on him to die meant nothing, just because he was the one covered in blood…

It had been Kankuro that had proven the best alibi. For he had somehow filmed it all, even when they had all left the airport. Come to find out, he had a hidden camera on his cat like costume.

Even the neighbor had been questioned to verify the alibi of Sasuke and Suigetsu. What did the locals think was going on here? Four college students partying and killing people for the fun of it?

Naruto finally collapsed on the sofa in the living room after the cleaning up process that had lasted all day. Sasuke and Suigetsu sat down next to him and they all three huddled together as the paranormal experts got to work on setting up equipment and exploring the house after being warned to stick to each other. Shikamaru was the guide so that Naruto could get some sleep. Both Suigetsu and Naruto had curled up into Sasuke's arms and promptly fallen asleep.

"What a bother…" Shikamaru harrumphed when they returned to see the loving scene of Naruto and Suigetsu both being held by a watchful Sasuke.

"Shut up idiot," Sasuke said, "I don't want you to wake them up."

Shikamaru sat down across from them in a recliner and proceeded to watch Naruto.

Gaara wondered why the lazy guy was so upset, then it hit him, Shikamaru liked the blond for more than a friend. What ever makes them happy, Gaara thought as he sat down on the stone hearth for the fireplace to work on his laptop. He began by documenting everything that had happened. He would not need to know about the private lives of these people, he would not be here long enough to matter to any of them. A sudden pang of loneliness hit him. He also wanted someone to care about him, why couldn't he find that special someone that would hold him or worry about him?

Giving one final thought to himself, Gaara came to the conclusion that no one would want to have anything to do with him. He was after all a freak, that fact had been pounded hard into him since birth by his father and uncle. Temari and Kankuro didn't count, they were his siblings, Baki also didn't count, he was also a freak, no normal person would ever care about him.

Making a mental note to ask the blond guy why the cellar was locked, Gaara finished his notes.

"Kankuro," Temari softly said so as to not wake up the two on the sofa, "Can you go with me to the kitchen to get some water?"

Kankuro sighed and nearly glared at Gaara for being too busy with his notes to accompany her, standing up he followed her to the kitchen which was on the other side of the house. She seemed to take her time in drinking the water and Kankuro was getting irritated, he loved his sister, yet Gaara was more able to handle her. Those two were closer than normal, his little brother was able to understand her better than he could. In fact, realization hit him full in the face, Gaara was more like Temari than he was like Kankuro. And the puppet lover realized that their was a large possibility of Gaara being gay.

That knowledge didn't upset Kankuro, in fact it explained a lot about his baby brother that was more pretty than handsome.

"Temari…"

"What Kankuro?"

"Do you think that Gaara is gay?"

Temari spluttered at his question, water falling out of her mouth as she choked on the drink she had been taking. After her coughing fit, she shakily said, "What makes you think that?"

Kankuro now looked away from her penetrating eyes, "I just get that impression. I think he is, it doesn't bother me though to say it, the way I see it all I want is for him to find someone to love."

Temari nodded her head and said, "I think you might be right, even though I never thought of it, he never likes any girls but that just might be how he is, he is shy you know."

"Yeah, but did you see how he looked at Naruto?"

"Yeah, did you see how he looked when that blond said he wanted to be friends?"

Nodding his head, Kankuro added, "He was all hopeful."

"Gaara needs a positive influence in his life. He needs someone that will get him to realize that what dad said all those times was all a lie. But I think that Shikamaru guy has a thing for Naruto also."

"I don't think it is reciprocated though." Kankuro said. "I could be wrong though."

"Well whatever happens, I think our Gaara will change."

"Yeah."

"Now help me clean up this mess."

"I am not the one that spewed water all over the place."

"I am not the one that would have done so if not for a certain statement that shocked me."

"Why was I cursed to have a sister?"

"Because we girls are better than you…"

Snorting, Kankuro knew when to keep quiet he proceeded to help her wipe the water up.

"So," Kankuro once more changed the subject, "what did you think about earlier when Gaara was staring up the stairs when everything was going on?"

"You noticed it too?"

"He must have seen something, it must have spooked him."

"That was what I was thinking too." Temari was amazed that Kankuro was so dense in some things yet when it concerned Gaara, Kankuro was more observant than even she was. "I wonder what he saw?"

"Well he will tell us if we need to know."

"Yeah, I know." she sighed as they headed out of the kitchen. "What do you think is happening here?"

"Its evil, that's all I can tell. Your average haunting doesn't include killing people."

"I know, I hope that Gaara can handle it."

"He can." Kankuro said as they entered the foyer. "Who is that?"

Temari looked where Kankuro was pointing. At the foot of the stairs, looking at the wall as if deep in thought was a slightly pretty girl that was near transparent. Her soft lips were moving wordlessly, then her eyes widened in shock and despair. A lone scream rent the night, one word was echoed in the house. "Nooo!"


	6. A Touch of Evil

**Disclaimer:**_** I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any profit on borrowing the characters of Naruto.**_

**A/N: **_This chapter was hard in writing, I am trying to get the feel of everything before too much is revealed about the past, also I think that Naruto and Gaara need this moment. To all the reviews I have received, thank you very much, I greatly appreciate it. Sometimes I feel like why should I write this story if no one wants to let me know how to improve it… alas, then I read the few who do review and it inspires me. Brownies for all of you! (Or maybe you would like to see some Naru/Gaa or Gaa/Naru action? Soon my friends, soon…)_

**Chapter 6:**_** A Touch of Evil**_

_Death? Why this fuss about death. Use your imagination, try to visualize a world without death! ... Death is the essential condition of life, not an evil  
._**Charlotte Perkins Gilman**

_Evil brings men together_.  
**Aristotle**

The sound echoed in the house, causing shivers to go down Naruto's spine. He hated being rudely woken up with noises like that, and this time when he allowed his fog filled brain to grasp the meaning of the scream, realization hit him that it was Hinata's voice that was echoing in his head.

Jumping up, he ran towards the sound. He was not the first one there, Gaara, Shikamaru and Kankuro and Temari were all there before him. Everyone was looking at a shape at the foot of the stairs, to Naruto it looked like a light orb. It approached him as the scream began to fade. Sasuke and Suigetsu were behind him, so as it approached, Naruto had no where to run. His body froze, as the 'orb' approached him, he felt cold, it was as if someone had put ice on his body. Then no sooner had he felt it then faintly he could hear a voice calling his name. He was not sure if it was or if it was just his imagination, yet the voice seemed to be pleading with him.

As the specter dissipated, a warmth seeped back into his body and he felt exhausted. He would have collapsed had Sasuke not caught him.

He was swimming, in his mind he could hear everything around him, Shikamaru taking him from Sasuke, Suigetsu asking what was going on, and Temari telling Kankuro to hurry up and look at the film. He was being carried into the living room and placed on the chaise lounge. He wanted to tell everyone he was alright, words though were not forming in his mouth, his eyes were not open, or if they were they were unseeing.

Through it all a calm soft voice said, "Allow it to happen Naruto. This spirit wants to show you something, and its not got any malicious intent."

Wordlessly he agreed to do what that voice told him to do, that voice was vaguely familiar, yet Naruto could not place it at the moment.

Giving himself over to the feeling that took hold, Naruto was awed by the fact that in his mind he could see the house. He was standing at the foot of the stairs and looking at the portrait in the hall that Shikamaru must have removed. One girl in particular from the portrait was fascinating him. She was beautiful, something about her was pulling him though and it felt uncomfortable. She looked just like the other two girls, yet something about her was different. He couldn't place it and it irritated him to try to figure it out.

As he stood there studying the girl, a hand seemed to touch him in the back, it felt evil, it was malicious, and made Naruto turn his head to look. He didn't want to look, he was compelled to though, like some unseen hand was turning his head.

It was the same girl from the portrait…

Abruptly Naruto woke up. He sat up so fast that he was momentarily dizzy. He was alone in the living room with Gaara.

"Tell me what you saw." he requested.

"Where are the others?" Naruto was more concerned about them.

"They went into the dinning room where we have the video equipment set up." Gaara said, "Please will you tell me what it was the spirit wanted you to know."

"I think it was Hinata." as Naruto said it, he realized that it was true, he hadn't been positive before, yet now it felt right. "She wanted to show me the portrait of the family."

"Where is the portrait?"

"I don't know, Shikamaru put it away I think. Neither one of us liked it, so he put it away."

"Do you think you can show it to me?"

"Yeah." Naruto slid his feet off the lounge, "Let me go ask him where he put it."

Gaara helped him stand up and they walked out of the room arm in arm. Naruto had never felt safer than he did at that moment. The red head was holding him so securely, he knew he shouldn't make a big deal about it, yet it felt nice. Naruto never wanted the feeling to end.

Everyone was focused on the video machines that was showing different rooms in the house when the duo walked in. Shikamaru looked up at them when they approached him.

"Shika," Naruto began, "Where did you put that portrait in the foyer?"

"I didn't do anything to it."

"You didn't move it?"

"No, I thought you did."

"What, someone put that portrait away and didn't tell you?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, do you guys know who would have done it?"

"Maybe Tenten." Suigetsu said, "Or Hinata."

"Sorry dobe, I haven't got a clue. The way I see it, this is not my house to move things around in."

Naruto mulled over what he said, "Hmm…" As he was thinking about where the portrait was, he noticed the video display. Cameras were placed in odd places in the house. One was even in his room, his room that he had slept in till lately. What the… "Um, guys, why is there a camera in my room?"

"That was what I was wondering too." Shikamaru said.

"We just placed them where Gaara told us to." Kankuro said.

Naruto looked at Gaara, "Why is there a camera in my room?"

Suigetu snorted, "In secret he is a perv and wanted to get some naked pictures of you."

Gaara blushed at what Suigetsu said, "That is where the spirit resides."

Both statements startled Naruto, he didn't know which one though caused the feeling of unease. He was not a modest guy, hell he didn't mind people watching him shower or get dressed, what had him uncomfortable was that Suigetsu had teased Gaara, making the young man blush.

Realization of what Gaara had said, was echoing in Naruto's mind. The spirit resided in his room… what the…

"You mean to say that I have been sleeping in a room that has a ghost in it?"

"In a way, yes." Gaara said calmly.

"So why is the camera on the cellar door too?"

"It has residue of some evil." Gaara was being honest and he realized that they were all shocked.

Naruto sat down heavily on the chair next to Shikamaru, he felt as if something nagging was trying to come to him. It was a thought that was in his mind that was out of his reach, like he was running towards someone that just kept running away as well.

"Oh," Sasuke said, "I wanted to tell you everything that the neighbor said about the house."

Everyone listened as he relayed what Orochimaru had imparted with him and Suigetsu. When he informed them of Hiro, Naruto felt that same damn feeling. It was within his grasp this time though, yet when he reached out to grab the thought, it slipped away from his mind. Why couldn't he remember it?

Shikamaru stretched and stifled a yawn, "Well folks, its been a long day for me, I am ready for bed." he glanced at Naruto, "Are you staying up or coming with me?"

"I think I will stay up for a while." Naruto looked around at the others. Sasuke and Suigetsu were getting up along with Gaara's brother and sister.

"Yeah," Suigetsu said, "It has been long."

"In the morning we should go see Tenten." Sasuke said.

"I can't believe it has only been a day since everything happened." Shikamaru said as he left the room.

Gaara took Shikamaru's vacated seat. "Is there anything at all you can tell me about your ancestor?"

Naruto thought for a moment, in frustration he said, "No. I wish I knew more…"

Gaara looked at Naruto, he seemed to be upset that he couldn't recall any information, so Gaara put his hand on Naruto's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, if you can't recall anything, we will just have to figure things out as we go."

Naruto nodded, he didn't know why he was disappointed when Gaara removed his hand, it was not something he was going to dwell on and try to figure out. He had too much on his mind at the moment to give it more than a cursory thought.

"So what do you do to get rid of the ghost?"

Gaara glanced around, he didn't want to disappoint Naruto, yet he would try to be honest. "It varies, this one may need to be treated differently. We need to figure out what it is that is keeping the spirit here and try to correct it. I don't get the impression that it is a demon."

Naruto's eyes widened, "Demons?"

"Yeah, some places are demonic spirits, some are just your average haunting. This one I think is somewhere in the middle."

"Have you had a demonic haunting to deal with before?"

"Honestly? No." Gaara looked ill at ease, "I have only had a minor hauntings."

"So is this one of the worse ones you have had?"

Gaara nodded his head, "I think we can handle it though, and if not then we will call in a friend of mine that has dealt with worse."

"Like what?"

"Well, Baki has dealt with a demonic haunting twice. That is why he only works for the police now. He told me that a demonic haunting drain you till you can nearly die from them."

"So this friend of yours helps you out?"

"Yeah." Gaara looked down at his hands, "When I was institutionalized as a kid for being able to see ghosts, he taught me everything I know. That was when he was institutionalized after his last demonic haunting. He said he went a little crazy."

"So he has been around for a while?"

"Yeah, he's not old in the way that he is retired, yet he knows his stuff."

The more Naruto was learning about Gaara, the more he liked him. Mentally though he slapped himself, the guy probably didn't swing that way, so he needed to think of other things. Plus the big fact was, under stress, sometimes people felt differently than normal times. Either way he wanted to at least become friends with him.

Sitting there with the red headed ghost hunter, Naruto realized that he was not too knowledgeable about the paranormal, even though it had always held a fascination for him. Watching the screens, Naruto didn't realize at first just what he was seeing, it looked like a blob. It was upstairs in the hall next to his bedroom.

"Uh, Gaara…" Naruto motioned the other over, "Is this suppose to be here?" he indicated the image on the screen. Hoping that Gaara would say it was just a spot on the lens, however his hopes were soon dashed when Gaara looked intently at it, as if studying every aspect of it.

"I need to go check this out. Want to come with me or stay here?"

"Are you insane? Hell yeah I'm going with you, no way am I staying here alone."

Naruto was not a coward, far from it, he was just not wanting to be stupid. He knew that it was when people split up in horror movies that they ended up dead.

Gaara smiled at the blond and led the way upstairs.

Every step they took seemed to echo in the quiet house. At the top of the stairs they stood side by side looking down the hall together. Naruto placed his hand on the wall at the top of the stairs and felt despair, it was just a nagging feeling at first then it seemed to grow with each intake of breath.

"Gaara," Naruto knew his voice was slightly shaky, he couldn't help it. This was all new to him and he was not too sure if he was going to not pass out from the intensity of the emotions that he was feeling. "Something strange is here…"

"I know, I can feel it too." Gaara whispered, his voice barely audible.

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure right now." slowly the red head stepped forward, and as he did a figure appeared in front of them, she was the same apparition that Shikamaru and Naruto had seen the night before. She was beautiful… something about her though was wrong, like that portrait that was now missing, Naruto thought. Trying to recall the faces in the portrait, Naruto realized that this spirit was one of those girls. The closer to them that she got the heavier the air seemed to get, causing Naruto to gasp for breath.

His hand was still on the wall, and as she approached them, Naruto felt the sticky wetness under his hand, hating to, he looked away from her to see his hand. It was now covered in red… He was momentarily startled, he knew what it was, it was blood. The feel of it was still warm, as if it were fresh. When he had placed his hand on the wall it had not been there. Yanking his hand away, he saw that the wall seemed to be bleeding, the wallpaper was looking newer and his head began to swim.

He tried to look back at the spirit, or even Gaara, it was like he was frozen in place, he couldn't stop looking at the wall. Something had him… it was in the same spot as he was… panic started to build within him, he had to rationalize things… he couldn't loose it, not here. All these foreign thoughts filtered in his head. Lust, envy and jealousy were at the center of them.

He was in a whirlpool now and spinning out of control. Gaara, his mind screamed… help me… that is when everything went black.

_**A/N:**__ Sorry that this chapter may not flow too well… I am trying to work on the flow of events, it is in my head and I am not sure if I am getting it down good enough. Please tell me what I can improve on, I hate that this chapter to me just didn't write itself like the others did and I had to ponder on how to put it._


	7. Days Gone By

**Disclaimer:**** I am not the wonderful Masashi Kishimoto, I just am borrowing his wonderful creations for my twisted musings… I wish to thank Nekoyoka who has agreed to be my beta! This chapter was beta'd by a wonderful person that fixed a lot of my mistakes. Thank You very much!**

_**Chapter 7:**__** Days Gone By**_

"In a Wonderland they lie, Dreaming as the days go by, Dreaming as the summers die: Ever drifting down the stream- Lingering in the golden gleam- Life, what is it but a dream?" _**— Lewis Carroll (Through The Looking Glass) **_

Gaara caught Naruto easily before the unconscious man could fall to his untimely demise at the bottom of the stairs. Gently Gaara lowered him to the floor keeping him on his lap. He had never experienced this kind of haunting before. He had read about them, yet he had never encountered one before now. Temari and Kankuro should leave as well as the others, he knew that what ever the spirit was upset about could harm them all.

Most lost souls are just confused, sometimes however, you get lost souls that at the time of death, were filled with such hate that they become enraged and malevolent.

This spirit was such a one, all Gaara could tell was that this spirit was overflowing with hatred. Yet, when it had entered Naruto's body it had been desire and confusion that Gaara had sensed.

Gaara looked at the blond closely; he was all soft and tempting when he was not hyped up about the events that were happening all around him. He could now see why everyone liked him so much. Something within the blond invited you in and made you feel at ease. Just looking at him, and knowing what he did already about him, Gaara concluded that he was someone he would love to get to know better out side of here. He had never before thought about his sexuality, yet here in this moment something within him stirred and made him want to hold him closer and never let anything hurt him, to stay by his side. And what had him more confused was that he had a strong urge to kiss Naruto.

He had to think of other thoughts, he could not allow his budding feelings for the blond to cloud his mind when he had to concentrate on finding a safe way of ridding this house of the spirit that had taken over it.

Deep in thought, he didn't notice when Naruto woke up. Naruto had passed out. He had never passed out before. When he woke up and saw Gaara holding him, he smiled. The red head was thinking about something that made little creases appear on the smooth forehead, the tattoo even was wrinkled and now the kanji for the word love was warped.

For almost five minutes Naruto snuggled into Gaara's embrace and watched him before Gaara even noticed, so deep in thought was he.

"Naruto…" Gaara softly said when he did notice, "how long have you been awake?"

Naruto looked into those soulful eyes and smiled; Gaara was so pretty that Naruto felt his stomach flutter at the close proximity, "Awhile now." Slowly he got up off Gaara's lap, feeling a sense of sadness at the loss of comfort. "How long was I out?"

"Not long…" Gaara didn't know why he was so comfortable with Naruto, or why he wanted the moment to never end, and when it did, why did it make him want to try to grab it and pull it back.

"What happened then?" Naruto asked as they sat at the top of the stairs next to one another.

"The spirit entered you and unlike the one earlier, this time you had no control over the emotions that it filled you with… do you remember anything about what happened?"

Thinking about it, Naruto shuddered. He did remember the emotions to some extent. "Yeah, I remember feeling despair, rage and lust, all sort of rolled in together."

"Did any visions come to you?"

"Like last time you mean?" Naruto clarified, when Gaara nodded his head, he said, "No."

"When was the last time someone lived here?"

"Years and years ago. The house has belonged to my family, but no one ever lived here."

"Then who modernized it, who did the updated plumbing and electric?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto admitted, "I have no idea. I don't think the perv did it."

"You mean your grandfather?"

"Yeah… Maybe my parents did before they died…"

"What happened to your parents?"

"I was just a baby…" Naruto said. "I was always left with the perv, they were always off doing something important. When I was about four though they were driving home on a foggy night and lost control of the car. Dad died instantly, but mom lived for about three months on life support. The doctors kept saying that she would wake up, but she never did. The perv said it was a way for the hospital to milk more money from someone and was in the process of going to court to have it terminated when she died naturally."

Gaara looked thoughtful, "So no one has lived here in a long time…" his statement was more like a thought, so Naruto didn't feel the need to say anything. "I wonder what secrets lie buried in this house."

"I haven't explored it." Naruto stated. "We looked around, but Shikamaru and I never explored the attic or the cellar; we just glanced in."

"You were able to get into those places?"

"Yeah, why?"

"When we tried, the doors wouldn't open."

"That's odd…" Naruto stood up, "Lets go take a look now."

Gaara got to his feet as well, "Sounds like a good idea…" he was wondering if the reason they couldn't get into the cellar and attic was because Naruto was the owner and the spirit didn't want anyone else to have easy access or if it was just some fluke.

As they went down the hall, Naruto glanced at the wall and was thankful that the blood was no longer there. His vision of it had haunted him more than he had realized, then the thought hit him, he hadn't told Gaara about seeing it. "Gaara?" his voice was barely above a whisper, for some reason, he felt the urge to keep quiet. "Did you see the bloodied wall earlier before I passed out?"

Gaara looked at him, "No…" he too was speaking softly.

The closer they got to the attic, the more they felt as if someone were watching them. "Well, I did. I even had my hand in it, that's when I passed out."

Gaara looked at the hand in question as they walked, "Nothing now." he was not doubting the vision, he knew that things like that were possible, what he found amazing is that Naruto seemed so calm about it all. As they literally held hands, Naruto involuntarily squeezed his hand and caused their fingers to intertwine.

Hastily, Naruto released Gaara's soft hand. As if it burned his touch. "Sorry," Naruto mumbled.

Gaara looked confused, he had never held someone's hand before, and he had liked the feel of it. It was warm and comforting and made him realize that he had missed so much in his short life, after this case, he would need to try to socialize more, meet new people and make friends. Like Naruto had friends. With a touch of envy, Gaara realized that he wanted to be included in that list of Naruto's friends. "Don't worry about it." Gaara softly said as Naruto opened the attic door easily.

"Here we are…" Naruto peered into the darkness. Slowly he slid his hand around the corner and fumbled to find the light switch. Once he found it and light flooded the stairs that led up to the attic, he grinned sheepishly at Gaara. "Do you want to go first?"

"I think you should." Gaara said honestly, "I think its you that is being allowed in; I can only go if I am with you. The spirit recognizes you as someone special."

Naruto nodded his head and proceeded up the stairs, Gaara following closely behind. The steps creaked from age, one was so brittle that it nearly snapped when Naruto put his full weight on it. The very air was seeped with dust and caused Naruto to cough, holding his hand over his mouth. He got to the top of the stairs and stopped to cough a few times. The attic was massive, it encompassed the entire length of the house; at the edges it was only about two feet high and in the center it was about seven feet high. It was not full of things, it did have some old kiddy toys, a rocking horse, a few cribs and some boxes.

The lighting was somewhat weaker up here causing Naruto to squint his eyes. "Nothing much up here…" he said. Gaara was going through a box. He pulled the odd assortment of things out of it, an antique looking jewelry box, a fancy comb and brush set that looked older than the house itself, some old books… absently, Naruto reached into the same box and pulled out a leather bound journal. "What is this?"

Sitting down, Naruto opened the book; it was someone's journal. A girl by the looks of the elegant handwriting.

Gaara sat next to Naruto, "Lets read it."

Naruto nodded his head, the first page was dated May 2.

_I just got this journal today; mother and father want us to have them. Mother said she had one when she was our age. I don't know what to put in here, I am not good with words like my sisters are. I am more of a talker, not a writer. Well, I will try to keep it, as long as I don't forget._

_May 29,_

_As you can clearly see, I forgot to put my thoughts in here. Nothing much has happened. A friend of mother's from when she was younger has written a letter to her saying that she would be here at the beginning of June. Right now they are in Denver, but they will be here to spend the summer with us. Mother was excited about it, seems they were real close as children. That damn housekeeper has stolen some of my things from my room. I wish that father would fire the witch, how dare she take from me!_

_June 5,_

_Mother's friend has shown up. She seems nice. Her husband is Japanese… they have the most beautiful son. Soon he will be my husband, he is half Japanese, yet he has the bluest eyes, just like his mother. I am glad that they are staying all summer. Sara is so vain, she thinks that he will fall in love with her… as if that would happen. Angela agreed with me, she always does, my sweet Angel… His name is Hiro; it is a Japanese name and it makes me think that I would love to have him be my real life hero._

_June 10,_

_Things are so much more exciting with Hiro, he is teaching me how to serve tea properly like his mother does for his father. I just know that it means he plans on asking me to marry him. To have him every night and to be with him is what I want most. He will become famous with his knowledge, become a teacher like no other. And I will be his wife! Sara is getting envious, she is saying hateful things about him… she just likes to think that just because he is not as interested in her that he is no good. He did choose the best out of all three of us when he chose me._

_June 15,_

_Hiro's parents have left, they want to make it to California before the winter. Hiro is going to stay here for the year and leave in the spring. Angela is now trying to sink her claws into Hiro. Why do I have such spiteful sisters?_

_June 17,_

_Yesterday when we went for a picnic in the woods near the house, Hiro held my hand… when we got back I was afraid to wash it. I know, how foolish of me, yet his hand was so gentle. I just know he will make a perfect lover._

_June 18,_

_What is the problem with my family? They all think that they can have Hiro… he is mine. I told Sara and Angela to leave him alone, they wont listen though. Why are they doing this?_

_June 20,_

_Hiro was gone nearly all day, when he got back he seemed to be flushed and giddy. He was talking about Maria Jacobs of all people. Wanting to know as much about her as possible, what is he thinking? Is he doing this to make me jealous? Well it is working… Maria is not good for him, I am the only one good enough for him._

_June 21,_

_Once more, Hiro was wanting to know more about Maria. I told him that he needn't concern himself with her, that she was not influential enough for him. He seemed to be upset with that so when I tried to explain it to him, he left. Sara and Angela blame me… I was just being honest._

_June 23,_

_Hiro went off and eloped with Maria. They even left to go to Denver, how dare he! What am I going to do now with him gone? My sisters said it served me right… those little witches will pay for saying that, then I will go find Hiro and make him realize that he needs only me, no one else._

That was the last entry. Naruto looked at Gaara and arched his eyebrow silently asking what the red head thought.

Gaara looked thoughtful for a moment then he said, "I think that she was more than a little spoiled. She became obsessed with Hiro." As he spoke, both Naruto and Gaara heard a growling. It was like someone didn't like what was being said. Chills went through Naruto's body, making him look around for the cause.

"Well is that the spirit that is haunting the house?"

"One of them." Gaara admitted. "I think that all three girls are haunting the house."

"I wonder what happened to them?"

Gaara looked at Naruto, as if saying how foolish, "I think that they were killed."

Naruto had a feeling that what Gaara said was true. A feeling in the pit of his stomach made him believe that what Gaara said was true. It was so foreign that Naruto wasn't too sure what to do about it.

So, Naruto thought to himself, they were killed… no wonder they were not at rest.

After another fifteen minutes of searching boxes, they were just about to give up when Naruto stumbled on a medium sized portrait of a young man. Holding it up, he noticed immediately that he looked just like the man in the portrait except his hair was blond, the one in the portrait had raven black hair.

"That must be Hiro." Gaara said next to him. "You could be his long lost twin."

A shiver of apprehension went down Naruto's spine and settled in the pit of his stomach. "Kind of creepy, if you ask me."

Gaara looked at Naruto and realized that the blond was in fact feeling the dread of something that was far from pleasant. "No need to worry, I don't think that you look too much like him." as he said the words he knew that he was lying however he couldn't help but try to comfort the blond in any small way he could. Too bad Naruto didn't believe him.

"Lets get out of here." Naruto dropped the portrait and started to back up out of the attic, nearly falling down the stairs in his haste to be away from the feel up there.

Gaara took one final glance around the space and proceeded to follow Naruto.

They were both on the second floor landing, leaning against the wall when up above them they heard footsteps. As if someone was walking around up in the attic, the distinct creaking sounds that the floorboards made, left nothing to the imagination, those footsteps were also heading for the door that led to the stairs to where the two of them now stood. Gaara was watching the open door way, expecting to see someone standing on the steps at any moment when a hand grabbed his.

Momentarily startled, he looked down and saw it was Naruto's hand that had clutched onto his own. Once more they were holding hands; it was still a new feeling, however Gaara could not complain about it. It helped him almost forget that they were in a unusual situation.

They were about to breath a sigh of relief when a sudden chill went through Gaara and he knew that the ghost was clutching his neck to harm him. As soon as he moved his hands to try to displace the ghostly fingers that were wrapped around his throat, the feeling left him. This entity didn't like it that the two of them had been holding hands, and as soon as the little contact had gone away, it no longer felt the need to hurt Gaara.

Sweat was beading up on Gaara's brow, absently he wiped it away as a sense of calm took over him.

"I think we should leave." Naruto spoke softly as if in reverence.

The blond was looking nervous and Gaara felt bad for him; he was used to being handled by spirits, Naruto was not used to it. "Yeah I think that would be best."

_**A/N: **__This was long in posting, for that I apologize. I am just having difficulties right now with various things and having to deal with them before I can write, I will try to post more often, I can not promise though right now._


	8. Foreshadows the Future

Disclaimer: I am not making any profit from this story, I also am not Masashi Kishimoto, if I were then Naruto and Gaara would be together all the time.

Much appreciation to Nekoyoka who is the wonderful Beta that has to put up with my morbid plot and fix all my many mistakes… So if you spot something good, it was most likely due to my beta fixing things, not me…

Foreshadows the Future:

"_The true genius shudders at incompleteness - and usually prefers silence to saying something which is not everything it should be." _

**Edgar Allan Poe**

_"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary..." _

**_Edgar Allan Poe_**

The house seemed to come alive - lights went on and off, radios turned on along with the TV's. A rank smell permeated the hall where Naruto and Gaara were standing. Bedroom doors slammed open and shut, and cold air gusted at them causing Naruto to shiver.

Involuntarily, he grabbed Gaara's arm and clutched it, as if it were a life preserver in the ocean and he were drowning.

"Naruto…" Shikamaru called out in a panic from downstairs.

"We are up here." Gaara calmly called back, as he attempted to reassure Naruto.

Shikamaru bounded up the stairs so fast that he seemed to trip on the top step. As he noticed how pale and shaken his blond friend was, he rushed over and started to pry Naruto loose of the red head.

"We've gotta get him out of here." Shikamaru said as he enfolded Naruto into his arms.

Gaara was about to agree when a pounding on the front door started and the house fell back into silence.

"Huh…" Shikamaru shakily said, "the house is bipolar - just like a certain Uchiha we know."

That comment alone caused Naruto to smile slightly and nod his head. "Don't be so mean to Sasuke."

"How did you know I was talking about that guy? I could have been referring to any Uchiha."

"Yeah right…" Naruto pulled away from him and headed towards the stairs, "Itachi is not bipolar, and we know no other Uchiha."

"So you admit that Sasuke is bipolar?" the conversation went on as the continued down the stairs. Sasuke and Suigetsu were at the front door holding it open for a young man with beautiful long black hair.

"I plead the fifth." Naruto said as they approached the new comer.

"Naruto," Sasuke said, "This is Neji, he's looking for Hinata, his cousin."

"Hi Neji," Naruto said as the door went shut. "We've been searching for her too."

Shikamaru snorted and Naruto nudged him in the ribs to keep him quiet about the little lie that was just told. Everyone knew that it had only been Tenten that had been concerned about the young girl.

"Gaara," Kankuro called from the living room, "Come here and look at this."

As if the man in the cat costume had called everyone, they all traipsed into the living room as a whole and looked at what Kankuro was pointing at.

A wide range of emotions went through everyone, from shock to disbelief to understanding.

"What the hell is up with this house?" Neji inquired.

"What does it mean Gaara?" Naruto asked.

"Looks like we gotta clean again…" Shikamaru dryly stated, unfazed by the wall oozing blood.

Suigetsu gasped and grabbed on to Sasuke, "What the hell is that? Is that real blood?"

"I'm outta here." Neji was slowly backing out of the living room, heading the way of the front door. "If you find Hinata, send her home."

Naruto was the only one that nodded and walked with him to see him out.

Neji went to turn the door knob, but it would not budge. Naruto tried to no avail.

"What the…" Neji looked around, panic filling his pale eyes.

Naruto was also confused, the door was clearly unlocked, "Gaara…Shikamaru… You guys have to see this."

Naruto was trying with all his might to open the door, and when the others came in they all tried too. It just would not open, "Check the other doors." Sasuke said.

Everyone went in different directions to check out the many doors that led to the wrap around porch, none of them would open either. "What did you guys do with my cousin?" Neji asked as they all gathered back in the foyer.

"Nothing… we didn't do anything to her," Naruto explained, "We just woke up the other morning and she was gone, no trace. All her things are still here too."

"Could she be the one doing all this?" Suigetsu was the one to voice the question that was on everyone's mind.

"I highly doubt it." Gaara defended the girl that he didn't even know.

"What makes you so sure?" Suigetsu was now starting to be suspicious of everything going on.

Kankuro glared at the pale albino, "My brother knows okay?"

"Maybe you are all in it together."

This time it was Sasuke that took Suigetsu in his arms and said, "Sui… they are not doing this and neither is Hinata."

Naruto couldn't believe his ears, his friends were all blaming one another for their situation. To change the subject, he asked, "So what _do_ you think happened to Hinata?"

Gaara glanced at him. The look in Gaara's eyes made Naruto gulp. Something was not right. Either Hinata was dead, or she was seriously hurt and near death. Either way, Naruto now felt a strong urge to find the girl; she may be the key to the entire thing.

"Why the hell are you ignoring the kid's question?" Neji yelled.

"I think she is alive." Gaara said, closing his troubled eyes.

Neji was about to say something more when a chill entered the area and caused the house to groan. "I wanna go home…" Suigetsu closed his eyes and leaned closer into Sasuke.

"I thought you were home." Shikamaru dryly stated.

Naruto would normally have smiled at his best friend for that comment. This time though, his blue eyes were focused on the door hidden under the stairs. It was an old door that had seen better days. It was a solid wood and the one time that Naruto had opened it, the door had been heavy. Right now it swung open, creaking as it moved and casting shadows on the wall behind it.

"What the hell is up with this damn house?" Neji breathed in wonder as the door seemed to beckon them in. "Am I hallucinating?" He was approaching the door, "Hinata?" he called out, "are you down here? I came to take you home."

Naruto cautiously followed the long haired boy to the cellar door. Both of them just paused at the top of the stairs and looked down into the darkness. Never before had Naruto been afraid of the dark; now though, something within him was screaming to not go down there, that there were unspeakable horrors down there. When Naruto felt someone behind him, he nearly jumped from shock. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed everyone else was behind him, though it had been Gaara that had gently touched his arm.

"Everyone stay here." Gaara said, "That means you too Naruto."

"Like hell I am staying here." Naruto said, he was not some chicken shit.

"I'm going too." Neji said, "Hinata might be down there."

"Fine," Gaara sighed in exasperation, "everyone else stay here then. Am I clear Kankuro?"

"Sure thing Gaara," Kankuro folded his arms and blocked the cellar door from the others.

Naruto was the first one to go down. As his foot fell on each step he kept calling himself names - idiot, baka, dumb ass - just to name a few. Why the hell did he want to act all brave in front of Gaara?

The darkness seemed to breath, as if it had a life of its own. Absently he swiped a few cobwebs away as he descended, noticing the smell of something rotting. He knew it was just his imagination, yet he felt as if someone were breathing down his neck.

The steps seemed to groan with his weight, and Naruto wanted nothing more than to hightail it out of there. He had to go through with it though, if he went running back up the stairs now, everyone would think he was a chicken, and he did not want to have that ruining his reputation.

Once at the bottom of the steps, he turned and faintly saw Neji almost at the bottom and Gaara halfway down. In the doorway, he saw Kankuro standing guard, blocking Shikamaru from entering the cellar. He felt a little bad. Since meeting Gaara, Naruto had started spending more time with the psychic and less with his best friend. He would need to have a long talk with Shikamaru later and ask for forgiveness and hopefully Shikamaru would understand. Something about Gaara made Naruto want to be with him all the time.

Not looking where he was going, Naruto tripped over something on the floor. Looking down he noticed Hinata. She was unconscious and dirty, she wore the pajama's that she had been in before, and her leg was twisted at an odd angle.

"Hinata?" Naruto spoke softly.

At his words, Neji blindly approached, bumping into Naruto on his way. "Hinata…" he leaned down to checked her over. At his touch, her eyes opened and she looked up at them as best she could.

"N..N… Ne… Neji?" her voice was raspy, from lack of water.

"Don't talk…" Neji gently picked her up as Gaara approached.

Naruto was speechless as Neji rushed the semi conscious Hinata up the stairs. "That was Hinata?" Gaara asked.

"Yeah." They both watched as Kankuro moved aside to allow Neji through. From where Naruto and Gaara were, they heard everyone following Neji, then they heard the door open effortlessly. "Seems like they left us alone down here."

"Seems like it." Gaara agreed. He was just about to add that he wanted to explore when the house seemed to shake and a scream vibrated through it, echoing off the walls, both forcing them to put their hands to their ears. The scream was so enraged that, for the first time, Gaara felt a slight bit of fear.

Naruto grabbed Gaara's hand and pulled the red head with him up the stairs, stumbling on the top of the stairs, he fell hard on the floor, with Gaara on top of him.

"Where is everyone?" Naruto yelled to be heard over the scream.

Gaara looked around, noticing the front door was wide open. He could see the others all on the porch also holding their ears. Pointing, Gaara said, "They made it out."

Shakily, Naruto got up off the floor heading to the front door, Gaara close behind. Kankuro was looking towards them, they had just about reached the door when it slammed shut. Running to it, Naruto tried in vain to pry open the door. On the other side they could hear the others pounding on the door, yelling for them to keep trying.

"Damn it!" Naruto pounded on the door with his fist and then leaned against the door, near tears. He never wanted to stay here again, all he wanted to do was leave. "Fuck…," he rarely said that word; to him it was a sign that he was at his limit.

The constant screaming was starting to die down, however the ringing in his ears was getting louder, causing him to start feeling the slight nagging of a headache.

Gaara eyed the blond. He didn't know how to help him cope; he was not a people person. He could only handle Kankuro and Temari. Still, he put his hand on Naruto's shoulder and tried to comfort the distraught man. Finding solace in the Gaara's arms, Naruto leaned into him and turned to face him. They clung to one another next to the door for a moment, neither one saying anything, as Gaara rubbing Naruto's back while Naruto breathed in the Gaara's musky smell, his nose pressed up to Gaara's neck. Naruto was amazed at how right it felt. He was starting to feel better; the gentle feel of Gaara's hand rubbing circles on his back and the steady beat of Gaara's heart against his shoulder was having a soothing affect on him.

Slowly he backed away, and as he did, the house started to shake, anything and everything that was not too heavy started to fly about the room. A glass that had been put on the fireplace mantle was aiming right for Gaara. Naruto didn't think, he just pushed Gaara aside and the glass hit him on the head, saving Gaara.

"Shit!" the glass shattered as it made contact with Naruto's temple. Stars were forming behind his eyes and he felt disoriented.

Pictures from the walls were flying through the air towards them.

"Looks like we made the spirit upset." Gaara mumbled.

"What the hell do you mean?" Naruto put his hand up to where the blood was starting to trickle out from his temple. "How could we make the spirit mad?"

"It's fixated on you," Gaara said as he dodged some knick knacks, "My guess is that when we hugged just now, it saw me as a threat."

Feeling a building up of dread, Naruto eyed the red head, "What do you mean?" his voice was soft, he was not sure if he wanted the answer or not.

"It wants you, and it gets rid of anyone who gets too close to you."

"What about Shikamaru?"

Gaara eyed the blond, "Did you ever embrace Shikamaru?"

Laughing to ease the situation, even though he felt crazy for doing it, Naruto said, "No… Shikamaru and I are just close friends." he didn't realize till he said it that he was implying that he wished for more than friendship with the red head. To change the subject, Naruto shakily asked, "So how long will it be before the spirit is gone? And what do you need to do to get rid of it?"

Gaara studied Naruto for long moments, making the blond wish he could dig a hole and hide from those intense eyes. Finally Gaara seemed to allow the subject to drop and replied, "It all depends on the spirit. I think that we can do it in a day."

"We?" Naruto gulped.

Smiling slightly, Gaara said, "Yes, we, as in Temari and I."

"When do you start then?"

They were still having to avoid a few items, but the house was starting to calm down, "As soon as she can get back in here."

"Why do you need her help?" Naruto was curious.

"I can't do it alone."

"I can help." as soon as the words were out, a voice inside of him was once more calling him an idiot.

Gaara eyed him. True, he thought to himself, it didn't have to be Temari, it could be anyone. "If she can't get back in by daybreak…you can help."

It was hard to believe that it was only four thirty in the morning, "So what will I have to do?"

"Pour salt on all the thresholds to the different rooms and while I meditate, make sure I am not disturbed. We do this in every room."

Naruto nodded, "What happens if you get disturbed?"

Shrugging, Gaara said, "Not much, I'll just have to start over in that room. Sometimes that is the reason it takes so long; when the spirit realizes what I am doing it will try to disrupt me every chance it gets."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, soon this entire ordeal would be over and he could live a normal life again. Thinking this, he realized that he didn't want to live the life he had been living, he wanted the three newcomers to be part of his future. He didn't care who they were, he just knew that he wanted them to stay.

"So are you always going to stay in Phoenix?" Naruto asked.

Gaara thought about it for a moment, "I don't know, why do you ask?"

"I would like it if you stay here for a while. I like you guys, and I think you could do your work from here. Shikamaru and I could even help you guys out. I don't think Suigetsu or Sasuke would help, they wouldn't mind probably if you stayed though."

"You hardly know us though."

"I know, its just that my instinct is never wrong about people and I think you are all good."

Gaara was amazed that Naruto would invite complete strangers to live with him. How trusting the guy was just amazed him. "I'll talk to the others about it…" Gaara slowly said.

Naruto nodded his head and grinned for the first time in what seemed to be a long time. He admitted that he was attracted to Gaara, and it was nice that the feeling was slightly reciprocated.

They were sitting against the wall in the living room waiting for something, anything really, to happen. The house was now eerily quiet, as if it too was waiting. Without thinking about it, Naruto scooted closer to Gaara and held on to the thin arm that was next to him. "Gaara…" Naruto softly said.

Gaara looked over at Naruto and arched his non existent eyebrow, "Yes?"

"Do you think I'm strange?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Naruto looked away, slightly embarrassed to say it, "the way I like you…" when he realized that he sounded a little too forward, he added, "You know, the way I want to be friends with you."

Naruto couldn't tell what the red head was thinking; he was looking at him with eyes that were intensely studying everything about him. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, Gaara said, "I think I feel the same way that you do. Right now though, let's not think about it. We need to concentrate on getting the spirits out of your home."

Naruto nodded his head and leaned against Gaara. Feeling content that everything would eventually work out in the end, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	9. Cleansing

**Disclaimer:**** Do I have to put down each time that I am not the creator of Naruto? I own hardly nothing worth being sued over, so please do not think that you can get blood from a turnip.**

_**A/N:**__ I have maybe one more chapter after this one; however I do have a sequel to this in mind, it deals with Ino/Sakura and a demonic entity instead of just a ghost. With more NaruGaa action, more bone chilling events than this one and a lot (I mean A LOT) of blood… let me know if you think I should write it…Thanks goes to my wonderful Reviewers… Arigato!_

**Chapter 9:**_ Cleansing_

"'Tis now the very witching time of night, when churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out contagion to this world."

William Shakespeare

"A house is never still in darkness to those who listen intently; there is a whispering in distant chambers, an unearthly hand presses the snib of the window, the latch rises. Ghosts were created when the first man awoke in the night."

J.M. Barrie

* * *

A strange sensation woke the blond up shortly after he had drifted off to sleep, the feel of a hand on his arm. It was chilling to the touch, causing Naruto to shudder from the iciness. His eyes opened so fast and wide that Gaara, who had been watching the blond, was startled.

"No…" Naruto sat up, he tried to move the phantom hand off his arm, only to have it dig deeper into his flesh. Looking down at his arm, he noticed that it was pale and he could faintly see the imprint of the hand, it was weird to feel a hand on him yet not be able to see anything. "Get it off…"

"Get what off?" Gaara asked softly.

Before Naruto could say anything, the hand gripped tighter and started to pull on him. Slowly he was being pulled away from Gaara and towards the stairs.

"Gaara," panic was finding its way into Naruto's voice. "Help me…"

Gaara grabbed at Naruto and pulled as hard as he could, finally after what seemed to be an eternity, Naruto was released from the ghostly grip.

"What the hell is happening?" Naruto said as he stood up, he looked around as if he could see what had grabbed him.

"I think that the spirit is getting upset that you are with me." Gaara's words made Naruto nearly laugh. He felt as if he was on the verge of hysteria.

"How can the spirit be jealous of you?"

Shrugging his slender shoulders, Gaara followed Naruto out of the room. They were heading towards the front door, out on the porch they could hear the others still talking amongst themselves.

Naruto tried the door and was shocked when it swung open with ease.

"What the hell!" Shikamaru was the first to speak.

"Temari," Gaara said, "Go get the cleansing items."

"The sage and the candles?" her voice was strained from being out in the cold for so long.

Sasuke and Suigetsu both hurriedly went inside, neither one saying anything.

"Yes." Gaara replied to his sister.

"I'll help you." Shikamaru followed Temari into the house, "You shouldn't be alone right now."

"Thank you…" she smiled up at him.

"So what happened?" Kankuro asked as Naruto, Gaara and himself walked back into the house as well.

"The spirit is getting upset," Gaara replied as they headed into the library. "I think we will start in here."

"How long till we can get started?" Naruto was curious now.

"He can get started as soon as Temari returns." Kankuro replied for Gaara.

"How can I help?"

Both brothers looked intently at Naruto. "Be the bait." Gaara softly said.

"What!" panic was starting to seep into Naruto's voice. "How do I do that exactly?"

"You go around the house saying, 'here ghosty, ghosty, ghosty…come get the tasty morsel here…'" Kankuro laughed as he said it.

Gaara closed his eyes as if he were in pain, "Kankuro…"

"Yes, Gaara?"

"Shut up!"

Kankuro rolled his eyes, "As you wish, your highness."

Gaara ignored this and said to Naruto, "All you have to do is go around all the rooms with me so that the ghost follows you."

"Oh… O.K." Naruto was slightly relieved that he would at least be with Gaara.

Sasuke and Suigetsu walked into the room, "We are going to the hotel for now, call us when everything is done."

Naruto felt as if they were abandoning him, however he decided to let it pass, due to them not needing to stay, he knew that Shikamaru would not leave unless he himself left. "That's fine." Naruto said as they walked out, both holding a suitcase.

Within moments Temari and Shikamaru rejoined them, Gaara motioned for everyone to have a sit while he and Temari explained things to Shikamaru and Naruto.

"First off," Gaara said, "Temari and I will do the actual cleansing, Shikamaru you need to help with Kankuro who records the process."

"I have a question," Naruto interrupted, Gaara sighed, however he did look towards the blond with his eyebrow raised, waiting for the question. "Why do you film it?"

"So we can one day be famous." Kankuro laughed.

Gaara rolled his eyes at Kankuro and explained, "Its so that we can latter go over the tape and see how we did and evaluate what we need to work on, also it allows us to have documentation of the process."

"Yeah," Temari added, "Gaara goes into a kind of trance and with it on film we can try to help him if he needs it."

"You mean to say that Gaara does this alone?" Shikamaru said.

"Yeah…" Temari said, "I help by going in the next room and using the salt and chalk then he comes in, and does his thing."

"So am I with Temari or Gaara?"

"You will be with me." Gaara said.

Kankuro and Temari both looked at Gaara in astonishment. "What do you mean?" Temari asked for the two siblings.

"He is my bait." Gaara said, "The spirit has connected with Naruto, and if he is with you, then the spirit will be with you, I need the spirit to be where I go."

"I don't like this…" Shikamaru said.

"It's okay Shikamaru." Naruto said, "I will be fine."

Shikamaru and Gaara seemed to have a silent staring contest, in which Shikamaru was trying to convey that if anything happened to Naruto, then Shikamaru would murder the red head, and Gaara was trying to convey that Naruto would indeed be safe with him.

"Besides," Naruto ignored the way the two were glaring at one another, "Gaara has kept me safe this long…"

"True…" Kankuro said.

Shikamaru looked away and grumbled something about he should be the one to keep his best friend safe.

"Well anyway," Naruto said, "What do I do other than what Kankuro said earlier?"

"You just stay with me." Gaara said as he glared at Kankuro once more.

"So what happens if things start to get weird?"

"Not if," Kankuro said, "When."

"What the hell!" Shikamaru exclaimed.

"It's not that bad." Temari said, "The worse thing that has happened since Gaara started to cleanse homes is that time when the spirit was upset and broke all the windows. Causing glass to shatter everywhere."

"Well if that's all…" Shikamaru was being sarcastic.

"No one will get hurt." Gaara said firmly.

In the pit of Naruto's stomach, butterflies were starting to flutter at Gaara's words. Something was urging him to flee the place and never look back. He just couldn't do that though, if he did then he would be a coward, and one thing that Naruto was not; was a coward.

It was like Gaara was speaking prophetically, and even though it soothed Naruto some what, he still felt the strong urge to flee the place.

Shikamaru nodded his head and said, "Fine. I guess if you feel that no one will get hurt I will be fine with that."

"You two care deeply for one another don't you?" Temari asked.

"He is like the brother I never knew I wanted."

"Aw…" Temari smiled.

Naruto grinned, "He can't help but be in love with me."

"Lets get serious now." Kankuro said to change the subject.

Gaara sat down on the wing chair and looked thoughtfully around the room. "We start in here…"

"Front to back?" Temari asked.

"Yeah." Gaara pulled out the sage, "Lets get started. You two help Shikamaru, I will explain and help Naruto. Go on…"

Kankuro grabbed his camera and handed one to Shikamaru before walking out towards the next room. Temari picked up the chalk and salt and started to pour a line of salt at all the entrances to the library, before using the chalk to draw some symbols on the frames over the doors and windows.

Naruto watched as Gaara used a lighter from inside his pants to burn a small section of the sage, with his eyes closed, he moved his hand that was holding the smoldering sage and moved around the room; never once opening his eyes.

Something stirred within Naruto, as if what he was seeing was something that he had seen before. How could it be? This was the first time he had met the red head wasn't it? Shaking his head to clear the thoughts about Gaara, Naruto noticed a slight chill in the room, it felt as if someone was walking through him.

It was unusual, however, Naruto knew to keep quiet. He just watched as Gaara did his thing.

It was maybe twenty minutes later when they were upstairs in the hall that Naruto could hear a soft moaning sound as if someone was in pain. For some reason, tears threatened to flow from his eyes, absently he wiped at his eyes while straining to hear better. The sound was coming from his bedroom, he was sure of it. The hair on the nape of his neck stood on end as he reached out to the door and touched the solid wood. Nothing unusual about the door, it was slightly warm to the touch, and underneath his fingertips he could feel the paint that was starting to peel.

He was about to remove his hand when a chill went through him nearly suffocating him. He felt as if he could not move, he even tried to force his hand away from the door that was rapidly dropping in temperature to no avail. The frame of the door started to ooze blood, the metallic smell nearly causing Naruto to gag.

"Gaara…"

"I see it too…" Gaara said before Naruto could explain any more.

With his hand literally stuck to the door, Naruto wanted to scream as the house shook as if a earthquake had hit. His fingertips were going numb from how icy the door was becoming, with his other hand he tried to pry his caught hand free.

When Gaara touched his caught arm, Naruto was able to move it away. To which he promptly did so and was rewarded with a bone chilling scream that echoed and reverberated throughout the house. In different parts of the house glass shattered and furniture was being thrown around.

"I think we made it mad…" Naruto mumbled.

Gaara nodded his head. He would save Naruto's room for later.

With each room that Gaara cleansed, the house became more violent, once they were done with Hinata's room and bathroom though, it calmed somewhat.

"What are you doing?" the voice startled Naruto.

Glancing behind him, he saw a spirit, not the usual one that he saw, it was a older woman with a man next to her, they looked like the parents from the portrait.

"I am so sorry…" the man bowed his head.

"Please go before she gets even stronger…" the woman seemed upset.

"What happened here?" Naruto couldn't help but want to know.

"It was our fault…" the man said. "Our daughters were spoiled, they all fell in love with the same boy, a friend of the family. He liked them all, yet he fell in love with someone else, our oldest daughter was devastated and took her grief out on her two sisters." he looked at the wall next to Naruto's bedroom door. "We found her sitting right here holding a knife in her hands, a gun at her feet, blood was all around. Not hers though, it was her sisters blood. When we went to approach her, she went to attack us, I had to do it, I picked up the gun and as she was about to stab my wife, I shot her. Not a fetal shot, it was in her shoulder, she turned and looked at me and I could see it in her eyes, nothing of the vivacious daughter was left, she was already dead inside. When she laughed it made me cringe. That's when she took the knife she held and plunged it into herself with as much force as she could. As she did, she stumbled and fell backwards from the stairs, coming to land in the foyer all twisted and dead."

"We then realized what had happened and tried to cover it up, we buried the girls in the cellar." the woman added as the man seemed to break down from recalling it all, "Please give them a proper burial." Naruto realized that they were both beginning to fade, as if what they said was freeing them from this plane of existence.

"We will." Gaara solemnly vowed.

The house seemed to calm sown slightly and tears were now flowing freely down Naruto's cheeks. Absently he wiped them away.

With the house now calmer, Naruto and Gaara went from room to room cleansing them. Gaara was positive that it was working when they went back to Naruto's room and could feel the absence of any malevolent spirit.

All of them met up at the door leading to the cellar. Shikamaru looked slightly frazzled, Kankuro seemed pleased and Temari was documenting something in a notebook.

"The bodies are in here." Gaara said as his hand touched the doorknob.

"How do you know?" Shikamaru was skeptic.

"We were told." Gaara said exasperated.

All Shikamaru did was nod his head and watch as Gaara opened the door. The smell was stronger here, it was now reminiscent of something rotting, like the smell of earth and a underlying smell of blood.

Naruto followed Gaara down into the cellar, this time the others followed as well.

"It sure is creepy down here." Kankuro commented.

"Do you feel it?" Temari asked, "The pressure is rising." she went back to writing something in the notebook before continuing on down.

"What's that mean?" Naruto asked about Temari's comment.

"Just that this is the epicenter." Gaara answered for his sister.

"The bodies are down here after all." Naruto nodded his head.

"Brace yourself." Gaara said as a gust of putrid air rushed towards them.

"What the hell…" Shikamaru was shaken, he grabbed the railing next to him and would have fallen if not for the wood support, as it was the wood did nearly snap with the force of air pushing him back towards the top of the stairs.

Once the feeling had gone, it left a chill in the air, as if the temperature had dropped twenty degrees.

Naruto approached Gaara and wanted to grab the red heads hand, however he just stood next to him.

"Why are you just standing here?" Shikamaru inquired.

"We need to communicate with the spirits." Gaara replied. "We need to help release them so that they can move on towards the light."

Naruto nodded his head and acted like he knew exactly what was going on, in reality he knew next to nothing.

For nearly five minutes no sound was heard; then in all the silence a scream echoed off the damp basement walls. Naruto looked up and saw three women shimmering in the room over in the corner, near where Hinata had been. The woman in front had a look of pure hatred, the other two were the ones that seemed to be in terror.

Gaara was about to say something when it seemed for Naruto that time stood still. He knew it hadn't, it just seemed that way, as if the spirits had somehow stopped time. Not hearing anything around him, Naruto stepped away from Gaara and headed towards the three spirits, tears were freely flowing from his light blue eyes now, and he didn't know why he was crying, he just felt a deep aching sadness that began in the pit of his stomach and traveled up to his throat. The spirits were saying something to him, he couldn't hear them though. First one touched him, he fell down to his knees. In his heart he promised to find the bodies of them and give them proper closure, as he was thinking this the one that had touched him seemed to smile gently at him before fading away, then the other one touched him.

More sadness enveloped him, they had died too young, never having lived all their life, all because some jealousy that was unfounded. His hand reached down to the floor that was more hard soil than anything, and he clenched his hand, digging his fingers into the hard soil. As this spirit too faded, he looked up and was staring at the last spirit straight in the face. This spirit was not really wanting comfort, this one seemed to be contemplating Naruto, wanting to tear him apart and smother him with love all at the same time.

Gulping, Naruto doubled over as if in pain, he felt so much misery that it seemed to tear right through him. The little amount of food that he had in his stomach seemed to want to come back up, and he had to swallow a few times to keep it down. He felt so cold that he started to shiver.

A hand touched his shoulder, he didn't know who's it was, just that it was comforting.

As if from a great distance, a voice broke through his thoughts, "Naruto, are you okay?"

All Naruto could do was nod his head, taking in a deep breath, he was about to get up when a force pulled him. It was not a gentle one like before, it was a demanding one, a feeling of being pulled that made him want to scream from the pain. It felt as if his insides were being pulled apart. One arm covered his abdomen while the other hand clawed at the hard dirt ground, trying desperately to stop the feeling of being torn. As quickly as it started, it seemed to fade. He was left alone shivering in the corner. Looking around, Naruto saw Gaara where he had been prior, next to him was the others.

They all looked at Naruto with shock and a touch of fear.

"What just happened?" Naruto shakily asked. He got up to stand and a force knocked him back down. Looking around, Naruto didn't see anything that had made him sit back down.

"Stay there." Gaara said, he slowly approached and mumbled something under his breath, when he was next to Naruto, he cautiously helped Naruto up without looking at the blond. Naruto observed Gaara, he stayed by his side and watched as Gaara wove some sort of spell with his mumbled words, the red head moved his arm in the area that seemed to hold the last spirit, spreading the burning sage to permeate the air.

It was a good thing Naruto was there, for Gaara collapsed in back, and Naruto caught him. With a sigh, Naruto knew it was finally over, all that was left in the house was the scent of burning sage and a empty feeling. With help from Kankuro and Shikamaru, the three of them carried Gaara up the stairs with Temari following closely.

_**A/N: **__I have one more chapter for this story, sorry if you wanted a lemon, not in this story, in the next one though. At the end of the next chapter, I will have a preview of the sequel. Please review and let me know what I could do better, as for all the ones that have reviewed, thank you and I just want to let you know that they are food for the muse._


	10. All that Remains

_Disclaimer:__ I do not own the Naruto universe, I only borrowed the characters._

_**A/N: **I am sorry that I have not been posting, a few things have been happening in my real life that has kept me from even getting on my laptop lately, let alone go on line. And when I do get the chance all I have time for is the little amount of internet time to check my e-mail. My humblest apologies to all. A note on the side, my "cat" stories are still on the burner so to speak, so please don't give up on them. Thank you!_

_Pity is for the living, envy is for the dead._

_-Mark Twain-_

_Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality._

_-Edgar Allan Poe-_

**_Chapter Ten: _**_All that remains_

Naruto slept, his dreams were peaceful and the warm body next to him didn't surprise him.

Gaara had woken up after a couple hours and just lay in the large bed that he had been placed in and stared at the sleeping blond that had a arm around his slender waist and his head buried in his shoulder. It felt right, like this was how it was suppose to be, a sense that he was in the right place at the right time was filling him. Something within him seemed to purr as if he were a cat.

Shaking his head, Gaara wondered when it was that he had fallen for the blond, it just sort of happened, he was not sure how or why, it just was. The mere thought of leaving him, caused Gaara to nearly hyperventilate, the start of a panic attack on the cusp of his being.

He had to get a grip on things, he couldn't just assume that just because he had fallen for the blond that the feeling was mutual, or that he could just stay indefinitely with him, he had a life, albeit somewhat a lame one, back in Phoenix. A house that he rented, a business that sent him to different places at the drop of a hat. His siblings had a social life there, he couldn't expect them to just give that up and move here just because he wanted to be closer to Naruto. On top of that, Naruto's friend Shikamaru was not too fond of him.

Sighing, Gaara untangled himself from the blond, and as quietly as he could he made his way down the stairs. The house was silent, everyone must be sleeping, he mused to himself.

In the library he found a glow, sitting at a desk was Kankuro, he was working on a camera and so enthralled with it that he didn't hear Gaara approach.

Sitting down next to his brother, Gaara watched for about five minutes before Kankuro noticed.

"What the hell!" Kankuro was startled when he looked over, "Are you wanting to give me a heart attack?"

"No!" Gaara said, looking at Kankuro's work in front of him, "What exactly is that thing?" slight bewilderment was in his tone.

As Gaara sat down on the chair next to him, Kankuro picked up the electronic device that he had moments earlier been upgrading. "Its just one of the cameras that I have that I am upgrading."

"I can tell it's a camera." Gaara said, "What I was wanting to know was that thing on it."

"Oh this," Kankuro smiled and touched the addition to the camera. "This is my own invention, it is designed to detect auras of people and things."

"So that is going to detect someone's aura?" Gaara seemed intrigued. "How did you come up with that?"

"I am more than a pretty face you know." Kankuro mocked being offended. "I know that I am the best looking one out of us siblings. However, I do have some brains in my skull."

Gaara didn't know weather to laugh or cry, he was not one to think about who was the best looking one, or anything like that, all he knew was that if Temari heard, she would be offended. Resulting in Kankuro having a few colorful marks on his face along with some new bumps. "Touché."

Kankuro put the camera down and grinned, "So little brother, you want to know how I made this?"

"If you really want to tell me, I guess I do."

"Magic." Kankuro theatrically stated.

This time Gaara did laugh.

"What!" Kankuro looked down at Gaara, "Its true."

"Whatever," Gaara said, "I guess its your secret then."

"Exactly!" Kankuro patted Gaara on the back, "So when are we going home?"

Gaara looked startled at the question, the thought made him realize that he had to leave soon, and he didn't want to. He wanted to stay and get to know Naruto better, to see what would develop. "That's just it," Gaara admitted to his older brother, "I don't want to leave."

Kankuro laughed, he had known that this would happen, "I think we should, you are getting too attached to him." Kankuro used his thumb to indicate upstairs, referring to Naruto.

"What is so wrong with that?" Gaara wanted to know.

"Nothing really," Kankuro admitted, "it's just that if you do get too attached what happens if he doesn't feel the same?"

Gaara looked away, hadn't he been contemplating just this earlier? "Yeah I know."

Kankuro felt bad for his little brother, he hadn't meant to cause the pained look he now saw on his face, or to make Gaara feel even more insecure. All he had wanted was for Gaara to see all the possibilities. "Well if you want my honest opinion, then I will tell you that Naruto does like you too."

A small amount of hope filtered onto his face, then the disappointment reappeared. "Then why did you say to leave?"

"Cause I don't want you to get hurt." Kankuro stated honestly.

"Well we cant leave until after we find the actual bodies, the spirits are still waiting on us to keep the promise." Gaara softly said.

"I think this was one of the most difficult cases we have had."

"Yeah it was." Gaara said. "Can you hand that to me?" he indicated a piece of paper.

Kankuro picked it up then watched Gaara writing on it. Within about two minutes, Gaara was finished and handed the paper over to Kankuro. It was a to do list of things that needed to be finished before they could leave.

Kankuro scanned the list and nodded, "So we need to dig up the basement? When do we start?"

"In the morning. I think that is soon enough." Gaara said, on the side he added, "Kankuro, is it normal to feel the way I do towards someone, as I do, of the same sex?"

A little flabbergasted, Kankuro looked at Gaara, the red head was blushing slightly and looking down in his lap where his fingers were nervously fiddling. "I see nothing wrong with that kind of relationship if that is what you mean." Kankuro put the camera down that he had been holding and added, "Now some people that are narrow minded and only can see the nose on their ugly face would say differently, to me though love is love. If you fall in love count yourself blessed, some people go all their life never knowing what true love is, it is not sex or anything like that. It is pure, it is how you would feel if something were happening to the person that you loved and you were willing to take their place so that they would be safe. Would you be willing to take on their pain? Or to have the courage to let them go if that is what they wanted?" the emotion that Kankuro was speaking with moved Gaara, had someone hurt his brother? Gaara wondered.

"You sound like you are speaking from experience." Gaara stated.

Kankuro smiled sadly and looked away, "Maybe one day I will tell you about it."

"I am not a little kid." Gaara grumbled.

Kankuro snorted, "I know that, its just that even Temari doesn't know about it. So don't get too upset. And besides, it happened while you were away so you wouldn't know what I was talking about."

When Kankuro said 'away,' it was his polite way of saying when their father had him institutionalized. So Gaara only nodded his head and kept quiet.

Shaking his head to clear it from the cobwebs that had sprung up from recalling the past love that he would not talk about at the moment, Kankuro got up and started to pace in front of the large fireplace, "I will say this," he said after about five minutes of silent pacing and deep thought, "If you really care about Naruto, then we will stay and I will support whatever you do."

Gaara was a little shocked to hear Kankuro say that. Unsure of what it was that he should say, his moment was lost when Temari and Shikamaru entered. That was when Gaara realized that it was early morning now.

"What are you two talking about?" Temari asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Oh just weather we should leave as soon as everything is done or take a little vacation here." Kankuro said.

"You will all stay here." Shikamaru said as he sat down on the sofa. "If you don't then Naruto will have my head on a platter and feed it to the bears. For some odd reason he has grown attached to all of you." his words were meant for all of them, however it was mainly directed at Gaara.

Gaara blushed slightly at what Shikamaru had implied, a warm fuzzy feeling spread from his belly, it was something he thought he would never feel. Once more he was at a loss for words and was relieved when Temari agreed with them. "We will stay as long as you want us to then."

"Wha-" Kankuro spluttered, "What about the house?"

"We are just renting it anyway." Temari stated.

"Well, what about our friends?"

"What friends?" Temari sighed, "You mean all those girls that you go out with and then forget to call them back? You can do that here too."

"B- but it wont be the same."

"What are you not telling me?" Temari asked.

"Nothing." Kankuro said too fast, everyone in the room knew that something was being hidden by the puppeteer, "I just think we need to let Naruto have some peace now."

"Who is she?" Temari asked her younger brother.

"What?" Kankuro exclaimed, "What are you talking about?" he was edging closer to the exit.

"I know you Kankuro," Temari sidestepped, effectively blocking the exit, "You are keeping something from me."

When Kankuro looked towards Gaara, the red head sighed, "Just drop it Temari, he will tell you when he is good and ready."

Kankuro mouthed a thank you to Gaara before leaving. As he was leaving, Naruto came in the room looking refreshed and still damp from a shower.

"What is his rush?" Naruto asked anyone in particular.

"He is keeping something from us." Temari said.

Naruto nodded his head as if he understood and rolled his eyes at Shikamaru. On the side he asked Gaara, "So what do we do today?"

"We need to start digging."

"Fun…" Shikamaru said. The look on his face said anything but fun.

"Yeah well, someone has to do it." Temari tossed a couch pillow at him and laughed as he caught it effortlessly.

"Naruto," Shikamaru said after tossing the pillow back at the blond girl, "They were thinking of leaving once everything is over. I told them they had to stay."

"Hell yeah!" Naruto nearly glared at the red head he was sitting next to. "What do I do if the spirits come back? What happens if I am out in the wilderness and I come across a spirit?"

"Hold it right there," Temari started to toss the pillow in the air, "Are you saying you want us to stay because the spirit might come back?"

"Well no, not really." Naruto gulped, "I really like all of you and I would like for you all to stay here. Shikamaru and I could help you guys out, its not like we have real jobs."

"Yeah that one day we both worked at Taco Bell was pure hell. I ended up getting fired cause I fell asleep in the corner, and Naruto got fired for laughing too much."

"What was I suppose to do? Say 'welcome to Taco Bell, how can I help you?' in a monotone voice? The person out in the car would think how boring, I don't want to eat here, lets go somewhere fun."

Temari laughed when she heard the two go into detail about the job.

"Is this the job interview?" she laughed.

Shikamaru smiled at her and nodded. "We were what sixteen when we tried to work at Taco Bell. Mind you, I didn't want to work in the first place, however our dear Naruto begged and pleaded with me, so I agreed."

"Well the old perv had always said that I needed to earn my own way," Naruto smiled.

"Well he was upset when he found out that you got fired after working three hours, then we had to wait three weeks before we were paid I think it was fourteen dollars and some odd cents. And then when we used our money we worked so hard for we went to Taco Bell to eat. In other words we wasted our money."

"If you remember the part about how we were just sixteen, that is my defense."

"Well then I guess we gotta hire you then." Temari said, "Right Gaara?"

Gaara nodded, "I hate to put a damper on all this, however if you are now working for me, we have to find those bodies soon."

"And here I was hoping that they would dig themselves up." Shikamaru stated dryly.

"What about Kankuro, how is it that he disappears whenever work is mentioned?" Temari said as they all headed down to the basement. "And you Gaara, let him leave."

"Were we suppose to hogtie him?" Gaara wanted to know, "All you wanted was to find out about what he was keeping from you. And besides he was up all night working on a new camera."

"Oh…" all the steam seemed to disappear from her when Gaara said that.

Five sweaty hours later, they finally found the remains of the three girls. No one spoke as Gaara pulled the once ornate rug out from the hole and all eyes were on it as he slowly opened it.

Once the skeletons were revealed, Temari ran up the stairs, "I think I am going to be sick." she said.

"We need to call the authorities." Gaara said as he slowly disentangled himself from the rug and stood up.

"I'll do that as I check on Temari." Shikamaru said. He patted Naruto on the back and went upstairs too. At the top he softly called out to the blond girl.

Naruto looked at the bundle on the floor and felt the tears well up in his eyes. It was sad to him due to the fact that the girls had died so tragically and so young. All for nothing.

"There is nothing you could have done you know." Gaara placed his hand on Naruto's arm.

"I know," Naruto said, "Its just so tragic though. They had their whole lives ahead of them."

"That is the fate of a lot of people, they don't look at the big picture, all they see is what affects them at this moment in time, not what tomorrow brings or even what they are doing is affecting those around them. I see it all the time, hate crimes, people being prejudice, even the times that they think they are doing something for the greater good, it all boils down to one thing, themselves."

"I know," Naruto nodded in understanding, "I bet that you have seen a lot of things that have been done that could have been avoided."

"Are you sure you want to enter my world?"

"Positive." Naruto said. "I have never felt this sure in my life." Naruto was nodding his head to confirm his feelings, "Somehow, I feel as if I have known you all longer than the couple days it has been."

Gaara didn't know what to say, he appreciated what was said, yet he wanted, he wasn't sure what it was he wanted exactly. All he knew was that he wanted more than what Naruto was saying, he smiled though and accepted what the blond said.

"So do we need to do something special with these?" Naruto indicated the remains of the triplets.

Gaara looked at the bodies and sighed, "No," he said, "All we need to do now is wait for the authorities to take them away and handle the collateral damage."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone is going to talk, is that what you want? Or do you want to set the record straight?"

"Okay, I understand."

Naruto nodded his head and grabbed the red head by the hand and led him up the stairs where Temari and Shikamaru were sitting on the floor by the front door, Shikamaru had his arm around the blond girl and was talking on his phone quietly.

The following few hours were spent in interviews with investigators and all the preparations for the funeral of the three bodies to be laid to rest in their family plot. It was to be had in two weeks time, the only ones present were Naruto, Shikamaru, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Sasuke, Suigetsu and the sickly guy from next door with his personal doctor. Sasuke and Suigetsu both agreed that Gaara and his siblings should stay with them. Suigetsu felt a lot safer with them in the house.

After the funeral, Naruto turned to Gaara and said, "Lets go home."

Gaara smiled and nodded his head, following the blond towards the car.

_**A/N: This is where I will end this part of my story, I have Naruto as a little empathetic, because I honestly believe that he is one. I have Gaara as a deep thinker due to him having his moments of deep thinking and self analyzing in the manga. In the next part the questions about Kankuro's past love will be revealed, along with the deepening bond between Gaara and Naruto. I like to take things slow and gradual with them in this story because I want them to have a long lasting relationship that is built on friendship that develops over time into love, with the mutual attraction of course… ;) and as promised, here is a preview of the next part in the story… Enjoy, and please let me know what you think of it.**_

_June 1,2007 1:30a.m._

The house was silent now, the only sounds came from the bathroom as the girl was soaking in the tub. Softly she laughed, she seemed so sweet and kind, on closer look though you could see it in her eyes, the emptiness and the cruelty. Her life had been a pampered one, where she was well loved by her family, so no one could blame her up bringing for the crimes that she had just committed. No, her parents had indulged her every whim, if she wanted something, all she had to do was ask for it and they would get it for her. Lifting her arm, she lazily ran her hand over it, smearing the blood over the smooth surface.

A hand reached down towards her face to cup her chin and kiss her on the lips, opening her eyes, she looked up at her boyfriend and smiled demurely. He never knew what happened to him as she took the slender knife and quickly slit his throat. His eyes widened and he involuntarily tightened his hand, nearly crushing her throat as his blood spilled out of his neck, showering her in the rich thick liquid. She had cut his throat deep enough to cause him to not be able to speak and all she could hear was the beautiful sound of gurgling from him as he started to panic.

"Poor baby…" she softly murmured as she absently licked the blood that was on her mouth. It tasted good, and the blood mixed in with the other blood that was in the tub, and before he died, she leaned up and covered his throat with her mouth and greedily drank the blood that was still coming out of his neck.

She watched his face as she drank his life into her, and at the moment of his death, she could feel the thrill of it all. As he was about to die, she lifted the knife once more and on his forehead, just like all the others, she carved the symbol that she was using to claim his soul.

That death made a nice two dozen in less than twenty four hours.

_June 1,2007 2:10a.m._

Gai woke up to get some water, he had another nightmare that he couldn't quite place. Glancing in the bed next to him he sighed, it was still empty. Putting his slippers on, he padded down to the kitchen and got some ice water. Standing next to the stainless steel fridge, Gai took a long swallow from the icy water. Glancing out the window, he noticed that every light was on in the boarding house next door.

"That's strange…" he mumbled to himself. Here he was, standing in his dark kitchen drinking water at two in the morning and next door every light was on.

Getting closer to the window, he scrutinized all the windows. No movement was noticed.

As he stood there looking at the windows, a image appeared in the second floor, a lone young woman. She was ethereal with her beauty, her hair was damp, and hung down from her to her waist… she looked like a angel. Gai wanted to know why she was painted red though, it looked like she had doused herself in red paint.

The more he gazed at her, the more he realized that she was not a angel, a fear started to take hold of him and he was not sure why.

As if she could see him as well, she looked directly at him. It was just his imagination, no way could she see into his home when his lights were out and she was bathed in light. That thought though was no consolation, and slowly he backed away from the window.

Something was not right, he could feel it in the pit of his stomach. A gnawing fear that she was going to kill him took hold. Shaking his head, he double checked to make sure the house was locked tight. Once he was sure that he was indeed locked safely inside his house, he made his way back upstairs to his room. He was at the top of the stairs when he heard the back door glass break. This couldn't be happening, he tried to calm his racing heart beat as he went into his room, locking the door as he went. Taking a deep breath, he leaned against the door before quietly going towards his bed where his cell phone was.

_**A/N: **__Let me know what you think, It will have more gore in and it will deal with satanic ritual somewhat, resulting in demonic haunting._


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